I Need Your Smile
by BookwormJC
Summary: SEQUEL TO I NEED YOUR HEART: It has been a while since she first left Japan. Now, Ema's a famous idol named, Chiyoko "Chi" Asahina. Despite all of her fame, she still can't forget her past and always tries to evade it. However, her brothers begin to have their suspicions on who she really is. Will they come to terms with her disappearance and will she continue to run away from it?
1. First Chapter: New Start

**Author's Note:**

**If you haven't read "I Need Your Heart" already, please read that first before reading this book.**

**Hello! It's me again! Here is the first chapter of the second book of the "I Need Your..." series! I'm glad that I can finally start this! I am aware that the anime will end soon, but I hope you will still follow me as I write this.**

**On another note, since school is well underway, I won't be able to update as often as I did with "I Need Your Heart". Also, I will start another Brothers Conflict fanfiction called "A Wolf's Perspective". Because of those factors, I won't be able to update as often. Possibly, I will try to update one of the stories every week or two, but I'm not sure.**

**That being said, I hope you will be able to enjoy this.**

**EDITED ON SEPTEMBER 15, 2013 (Please see the author's note below)**

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**I Need Your Smile**

**First Chapter: New Start**

The snow was falling delicately from the sky as a large airplane began to touch down on the runway. It has been exactly seven years since Ema Hinata, age twenty-three, walked out of her brothers' lives completely. Sitting on her seat, she looked out of the window as she began to see the view of Japan again.

Back when she was only a sixteen year old high school student, the love of her life passed away, due to the carelessness of some of her brothers. Before that, she met Fuyuki Shiraishi by chance as she walked back from school. Then, as their relationship began to develop, he eventually confessed his feelings to her. Since she was in love with him, she when he admitted that he liked her.

However, her happiness was cut short one Christmas Eve when some of her jealous brothers ran over him with the family car. At that moment, Ema's world fell apart. It couldn't have gotten any worse, right? Well, to put it bluntly, it did. After the incident, she had a huge argument with her brothers, which, in a nutshell, didn't end well.

After said argument, she decided that the only thing she could do was to meet with her love again by drowning herself in a river. Fortunately, Fuyuki's older sister, Aiko managed to save her life. When Ema woke up, she finally realized what she had done and started to regret her decision.

However, after all that, she still couldn't bring herself to face her brothers again. As a result, Aiko offered to take her to America to start a new life, free from all the worries of the past. Of course, Ema said yes and went with her six months later.

So, what has she done during these seven years? Well, you can say that a whole lot had happened while she was gone.

In America, she decided to follow Fuyuki's dream, which was to be a famous idol. There, she studied at Westwood Performing Arts Academy, the school that Fuyuki wanted to attend. As the years went by, she managed to do well in both her academic and her performing arts classes. While she was attending the school, she met two other Japanese girls, named Michiko Arai and Ayako Yukimura.

Michiko was two years older than Ema. Growing up in a strict family, she grew up to be a mature and smart woman. However, her family didn't like the idea of her becoming an idol, so they threatened her, saying that if she follows her dream, she would get disowned. This wasn't a really hard decision for her, as she immediately took the earliest flight to America, leaving her family forever. As a result, she began to grow cold, until she met Ema, who managed to break her out of her shell. Afterwards, she became a mature, young woman who was following her dream.

Meanwhile, Ayako, who was only a year younger than Ema, came from an easy-going family, who supported her dreams and always wished her the best in everything that she did. One day, while watching TV, she happened to watch Fuuto Asakura's concert, which was broadcasted on TV. As she watched in awe, she suddenly wanted to become an idol, hoping that she would meet the man who changed her future. When her family heard about this, naturally, they were supportive. In fact, because of their constant support, she grew up to be a spoiled and immature girl.

One day, while preparing for an upcoming school concert, they were paired together to preform as an idol group. Of course, they had to, as it was arranged by their teachers. As they practiced, they grew to like each other and eventually became the best of friends. In fact, Ema trusted them so much that she told them about her dark past. Being the friends they were, they whole-heartedly supported her.

Then, on the day of the concert, they performed really well, catching the eye of a talent agent. After the concert was over, the group was approached by said talent agent, who quickly gave them an offer to become a part of his talent agency. Naturally, the couldn't refuse, to they quickly accepted, thus creating the birth of AsahinaSisters (朝比奈Sisters), their girl group.

After they graduated from the school, they quickly came back to Japan so that they could finally début. In a nutshell, the concept of AsahinaSisters was that they were all sisters with the surname "Asahina". Ayako and Michiko took the names Aya Asahina and Mi Asahina respectively, while Ema's stage name was Chiyoko Asahina, which was usually shortened to "Chi" by the fans. Naturally, that would make her nervous, as it was really similar to Juli and Louis' nickname for her.

After their first performance in Japan, they quickly developed a sizable fanbase. In fact, they became really famous, not only among the Japanese, but also among a lot of people around the addition to becoming an idol, Ema also became a well known actor, playing a number of roles. However, because of her busy schedule, she only played minor roles throughout her career.

To put it simply, she was having a great life as an idol. Even though she was happy, she still greatly missed her brothers. Even if she wanted to see them again, she knew that she couldn't, since it would defeat the whole purpose of starting a new life. After all, the reason why she ran away was to get away from her painful past, which would be impossible if she was with her brothers. Also, she still couldn't manage to forgive Fuuto and Tsubaki for what they did to Fuyuki, since they still wanted to make her theirs after accidentally killing off their biggest rival.

While Ema was enjoying her life as an idol, what were her family and friends doing during those seven years?

Well, after seven years of searching for her, they were still hopeful that she was alive. Since there was no body to prove her death, they all knew that there was a possibility that she was still alive. However, Ukyo noted that since it had been seven years after her disappearance and they still haven't found any clue that would reveal the truth, she legally became dead in absentia.

Even though it was a daunting task for them, they finally grew to accept her "death". A lot of people didn't take this news to well. This included Rintarou, Ema's adoptive father, who couldn't believe that she was dead. He felt as if he was a failure of a father, apologizing to her dead parents profusely. At the same time, Miwa, his wife, who was saddened by the fact that she lost her only daughter.

In addition to the two, another person who took it extremely hard was her pet squirrel, Juli, who was living with Louis ever since her apparent death. He had been with her ever since she was born, so, of course, he couldn't take the news very well. In fact, ever since she was considered legally dead, he had to constantly look up to Louis for comfort.

Even though everyone was affected by this, the ones who took it the hardest were the brothers themselves. After all, they not only loved her as a sister, but they loved her as a woman. When they heard the news from Ukyo, a multitude of things happened.

For one thing, as soon as they heard the news, Tsubaki promptly moved out of the mansion, feeling responsible for what Ema did. Even though he still was unwilling to apologize for his actions, he loved Ema too much, causing him to regret being too harsh on her. As Tsubaki walked out of the door with his things, Fuuto followed him out the door.

The next day, Miwa decided to get Masaomi, the eldest son, an arranged marriage. Since the person he loved dearly was gone, he decided that it was time he get married, since it would take away all the pain he endured for losing Ema.

As the fact that Ema was "dead" finally dawned on them, some of them managed to move on, as they started to date other girls. However, there were still some people that loved her, despite her being "dead", namely, Tsubaki, Fuuto, Yusuke, Subaru, Louis, Iori and Natsume.

Despite that, they still were getting along with each other. When Ema was still with them, they fought often, but ever since she disappeared, they felt as if there was a silver lining, which was that they were getting along again. However, what would happen when they figure out the truth about Ema's "death"?

Holding her handbag in one hand, she walked elegantly out of the plane with Ayako and Michiko. Making their way through the hallways, they smiled at the people that greeted them.

"Why does our Asia tour have to be over?" Ayako complained loudly. "I wanted to go sightseeing a bit more!" As she began to sulk, Michiko placed her hand on her shoulder, while Ema silently laughed at them.

"There there, Aya-chan..." Michiko comforted the girl with a cold tone in her voice. "It can't be helped... It was for work after all..." While Ema was smiling at the sight, she walked towards the desk, holding her passport in her hand, she quickly passed it towards the person.

"Ah, Chi Asahina! How was your tour?" the clerk exclaimed excitedly as Ema nodded. Handing her the passport, the clerk quickly scanned through it. Like everyone else, the person failed to notice that it belonged to someone who was "legally dead", since they were more focused on meeting a famous idol rather than doing their job properly. Of course, it wasn't a really good thing for that to happen, but Ema was still grateful.

Walking towards the baggage area, she noticed something displayed on the television that caught her eye. As she got closer to it, she could hear the sound as it blended into the sounds of the airport.

On the TV was a news report. As the reporter stood in front of what she believed was the Sunrise Residence, she smiled faintly when she read the headlines; "Teenage Girl Presumed Dead After Seven Years". Even though it wasn't something to be happy about, she smiled because her new life could finally begin, as her old life was finally out of the way.

While the reporter was speaking, a picture of her sixteen-year-old self showed up. Looking at it, she noticed how much she had changed. Before, she was a thin girl with brown hair that was tied into a side ponytail. After seven years had passed, a lot of things changed about her appearance.

In addition to growing taller, she also developed a healthy and admirable figure. However, the most striking difference was her hair colour. In order to keep up her disguise, she decided to get a new hair colour. Walking away from the television, her long, wavy black hair swayed dramatically as she walked towards the baggage carousel with the other members.

"Chiyoko-san," Michiko asked her sympathetically. Knowing that she didn't want to get recognized, she called her by her stage name. "Are you sure this is okay? As of today, you are legally dead." she continued, referring to the news story that was just broadcasted on the television. While Ema stopped in her tracks she faced the older woman.

"I'm sure!" she smiled genuinely, glad that her friend was able to care for her. "Besides, it would be better this way... If I never did this, I would still be in pain after Fuyuki's death..." While Michiko nodded understandingly, they went to get their luggage from the carousel.

Half an hour later, they were finally making their way out of the airport. Taking in the smells of Japan, she watched as Ayako and Michiko made their way in the taxi. Knowing that Aiko would pick her up late, she placed a pair on sunglasses on her face and watched as the cars passed by.

Patiently waiting for the car to show up, she noticed that a man was standing on the same spot, staring at her. Looking at him, she noticed that he had orange hair that went down his back, tied into a long ponytail. It looked as if he was looking at her attentively, examining her appearance. In annoyance, she stood up and walked towards the man.

"May I help you?" Ema tried to be as polite as possible, even though she was starting to get annoyed at him staring at her.

"Sorry," the man apologized in a voice that had a familiar ring to her ears. "It's just that you look really familiar..." As she had a closer look at him, she finally realized exactly who this was.

The person standing in front of her was none other than Hikaru Asahina, one of her older brothers. As her heart started to beat rapidly, she realized that she was unable to run away, as that would cause suspicion. Trying to find something to throw him off, she thought of one thing on the spot.

"Well, to tell you the truth, I am Chiyoko Asahina, one of the members of AsahinaSisters." she made up while Hikaru seemed to understand. "I guess that's why I seemed familiar to you!" Even though she kept a cool façade, on the inside, she was as nervous as hell.

"I see..." he told the girl as he turned around to walk away. Feeling a sense of relief, she sighed. However, as Hikaru turned around, she noticed something peculiar. On his face was a smirk, done ever so slightly. Even though she was wondering why, she noticed that Aiko was waiting in her car, looking at her rather impatiently. Making her way inside, the car finally drove off.

Meanwhile, Hikaru was looking at the car as it sped away. Making sure she was gone, he laughed to himself quietly. Of course, this was news to him, but seeing as it was an opportunity to have a bit of fun, he decided to keep this development to himself.

"So that's where you are..."

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**Author's Note:**

**What did you think? I hope I did a good job, but I am willing to accept constructive criticism. (I don't appreciate blatant flaming however...)**

**So, remember the poll that was taking place during the last book? Well, there will be another one, where one of the top two will actually end up with Ema. Like the last one, it will be on my profile, but this time, it will close when I post the sixth chapter, since I need to plan the last book with the results in mind.**

**As stated above, this chapter was edited. Before, I noticed that there were a lot of questions about Ema's stage name. The reason why I made it "Chi Asahina" was that it would cause a lot of suspicion among the brothers (After all, I'm trying to make the story move along). However, I noticed that it was to obvious, so I made some changes.**

**Firstly, when it comes to the band name, I decided to edit it so that "Asahina" is written in kanji. I noticed that there is more than one way to spell Asahina. The ones I know of are 朝比奈 and 朝日奈. In this case, it would be spelled as "****朝比奈Sisters". (Keep in mind that in the story, it will still be spelled using English letters, since I'm only copying and pasting the kanji.)****  
**

******On that note, the name "Asahina" in the stage name is spelled as "****朝********比**奈" (The same spelling Mikuru Asahina from the Haruhi Suzumiya series uses), though it will be written in the English alphabet throughout the story. I spelled it this way so that it would differ from the spelling the brothers use (**朝日奈). Even though I personally don't think it makes much of a difference, as they are phonetically the same, I would like to mention that the name was designed to cause suspicion anyways.**

**************In addition, I also changed her real pseudonym to Chiyoko Asahina (************朝********比**奈 千代子). The reason why is because, as mentioned earlier, I realized it's too obvious. Even though she would be formally known as Chiyoko Asahina, the fans and media will still shorten her name to Chi Asahina (**********朝********比**奈 チー).

**Anyways, I hope you will understand why I changed her stage name. I also hope that you will follow, favourite and/or review this story! Bye bye!**


	2. Second Chapter: Surprise

**Author's Note: **

**Hello, again! I am so glad to read your reviews, as it gives me more motivation to do this! I'm sorry for taking long to write up this chapter. I've been busy with school, so I guess there's nothing I can do about it...**

**So, with that said, let's continue the story!**

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**I Need Your Smile**

**Second Chapter: Surprise**

"Good job! Go rest for the day!" the manager called out to the three girls, who were beginning to leave the recording studio. Earlier, they were recording their new single, which was going to be used as a theme song for an upcoming drama.

As they were making their way towards the exit, he yelled out, "Remember to meet at the studio tomorrow! We have to practice for that concert!" As Ema bowed at him politely, he looked at her sympathetically. Along with Aiko, Ayako and Michiko, he also knew about Ema's secret, and was willing to keep it as long as it didn't interfere with her career.

When she arrived at Aiko's place, she walked out of the car and went inside the house, hoping that Aiko was back from the hospital. After she was finished with the training she received from America, she began to work in a hospital as a pediatrician.

Taking a step inside, she was slightly disappointed when she heard the alarm go off. Walking towards the machine, she typed the code, disabling the alarm.

"I guess she isn't home..." she sighed to herself as she passed by a picture of Fuyuki. Picking it up, she kissed it on the forehead, muttering, "It's been years since we last talked... I really miss you..." Slowly placing it back down, she noticed a piece of paper lying right on the table, picking it up, she read the words that were carefully written.

"_Ema-san, read this carefully. I know this is sudden, but I'm going to attend a marriage interview... Don't worry about me, though. Coincidentally, I heard that this guy is also a pediatrician who works in the same hospital as me, so I guess it's okay. After all, I know him personally! Just to let you know, he's going to visit in the evening, so I have to go shop for a dress! If a rather tall man with brown hair and brown eyes rings the doorbell, please open the door for him! Thanks!"_

As soon as she put the note down, she suddenly brightened up. After all, hearing this made her excited, since she was really happy for her. Looking at the picture of Fuyuki, she exclaimed, "Fuyuki, isn't this great? Aiko-nee's going to get married!" Even though she wasn't really expecting a response, she still continued to smile.

"That's right!" she pointed out to herself. "He's going to come over! I better make a cake to celebrate!" she said as she quickly put on her disguise before running out the door to get the ingredients.

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A couple of hours later, Ema sighed as she put the last detail on the cake. Doing this was rather tiring, but she would still do it, as one of her closest friends was going to get married. Placing the piping bag down, she sat down and thought of whenever she would bake cakes for her brothers.

She remembered this one time in particular, where she made a cake for Subaru's twentieth birthday party. All of the brothers were really happy when they looked at it, and were even happier when they actually tasted it. Seeing the looks on her faces made her smile of course. Reminiscing on that moment, she quickly shook her head when she realized what exactly she was thinking about.

"No!" she yelled at herself, mentally slapping herself across the face. "I can't let myself think about them! Not when I already made a new life for myself!"

While she was still fretting about that moment, she suddenly heard the doorbell ring. After clearing all of her thoughts, she went towards the intercom and spoke.

"Hello?" Ema asked politely, while the man standing outside walked towards the intercom. "Is this the person Aiko-nee will marry?" After he said yes, she walked towards the door and opened it. However, when she saw a familiar face, the colours began to drain from her face.

Standing in front of her was a rather tall man, just like how Aiko described him to be. He still looked quite young, despite actually being thirty-eight years old. He had medium brown hair that went down to his neck as well as a stubble around his mouth and chin area. In other words, he looked like an older version of someone from her past.

Why did it bother her so much? Well, to put it simply, the person whom Aiko was going to get married to was none other than Masaomi Asahina, one of her brothers.

While she had a shocked look on her face, Masaomi also had a look of recognition, causing Ema to become extremely worried. After all, if he found out about who she really was, the new life she had worked so hard for would go straight to the landfill.

"C-Come in..." Ema nervously allowed him in as she tried to avoid eye contact with him. "A-Aiko-nee will be coming any minute now..." Normally, she would be able to use her acting skills to get through this situation, but seeing as her secret was at stake, that was the last thing on her mind.

As Masaomi was walking towards the living room, he noticed Fuyuki's picture on one of the tables. While Ema was slowly trying to inch away from the man, he suddenly turned towards her.

"This is Fuyuki Shiraishi, am I right?" he said solemnly, holding the frame in his hands. While Ema nervously nodded at her older brother, he placed it back down. "My little sister dated him once... When he died, she decided to go with him..." As he looked down with a pained look on her face, Ema only felt really bad for him, seeing as she causing him a great deal of pain.

"By the way, you kind of look like her..." he mentioned, causing her heart to beat rapidly. Looking at him apprehensively, he began to walk away, looking towards the ground. "Sorry... forget I said that..." he said in a serious tone while Ema only stared at him.

It was only a few more minutes until Aiko walked into the house. Dressing in a purple dress, she shook Masaomi's hand before leading him to the dining table. Using this as a chance to get away, she quietly walked towards the staircase, making her way to the room. However, Aiko noticed and called out to her.

"You're welcome to sit with us, Chiyoko-san!" she said rather politely, while Ema simply declined. This earned her a glare from Aiko, telling her that she wants her to stay with them. Having no choice but to do so, she reluctantly walked into the kitchen to join the couple.

While Ema was getting drinks for the two, Masaomi noticed the cake that was sitting on the counter. It was a round cake, with white frosting surrounding it. While the strawberries were delicately placed around the outside of the cake, the word "Congratulations" was skillfully written on the top with red frosting.

"Did you make this?" Masaomi asked the already nervous girl, suddenly having a bit of a flashback in his mind. While Ema gave him a curt nod, she took the cake and began to slice off the pieces, giving a large piece to both Aiko and Masaomi. Watching the two take a bite, she was glad when Aiko showed a smile on her face. Unfortunately, after looking at Masaomi, she noticed that he had a sense of recognition.

"Is there anything wrong?" Aiko asked Masaomi, who appeared to be deep in thought. As Ema stared at him, she knew exactly what he was thinking in his head.

"It's just that this cake gives me memories... The taste feels the same as how _she _made it..." Masaomi trailed off while Aiko was looking at him understandingly. Even though she didn't know that the cake actually reminded him of Ema, she did know that there was a person he used to like before he had to marry her.

At this point, Ema was dying inside. He started to trail closer and closer towards the truth, which was something she definitely didn't want to happen.

"By the way..." Masaomi turned towards Ema, shocking the poor girl. "Why do you look so familiar?" Ema, at this point, was extremely terrified for what was to come, expecting him to find out about everything right there.

Hesitant to answer, she tried to inch away from the couple, mumbling incomprehensibly, while Aiko and Masaomi only looked at her curiously. Realizing that she would have no choice but to talk, Ema suddenly thought of something that would conceal her identity for the time being.

"It's probably because... I'm Chiyoko Asahina, a member of a group called AsahinaSisters..." Ema said apprehensively, hoping that it would cover for her. Then, when she noticed Masaomi smile, she sighed in relief, as she was grateful for having a second name.

"Really?" Masaomi asked in excitement, surprised that she was a famous idol. "My little brothers, especially Wataru, are big fans of yours!" When he mentioned the names of her stepbrothers, she looked down, as it brought her memories from the past.

"If that's the case, I can hook you up with tickets!" Aiko mentioned to him, while Masaomi brightened up. "Em... Chiyoko-san wouldn't mind, right?" As she was staring at Ema, she quietly said, "Yes..." before walking away, leaving Masaomi and Aiko to talk to each other.

A couple of hours later, while Ema was hiding in her room, Masaomi noticed that it was almost midnight, he carried Aiko, who was fast asleep, to her room, giving her a kiss on the forehead. Even though he was really in love with Ema seven years ago, he finally moved on after her apparent death and decided to give all of his love to his future wife.

However, as he walked out of the house, he noticed that the sky was as dark as it could be. As the stars were shining brightly in the sky, Masaomi only had one thing that lingered in his mind.

"_Why does Chiyoko-san remind me so much of Imouto-chan?"_

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As the sun shone over the snow that accumulated on the ground, people were going about their daily lives. Meanwhile, Aiko was starting to get right out of bed. Walking slowly down the stairs, she noticed Ema, who was pacing around the living room nervously.

"Ema-san," Aiko asked her, while she suddenly stopped in her tracks. "Why do you look so nervous? Is something bothering you?"

Clearing her throat, she sat down on a couch as she said, "Yes, Aiko-nee... There's something bothering me... and it's about Masaomi-san..." Upon hearing this, Aiko began to tense up...

"Why?" she was really curious as to why Ema would be uncomfortable around her fiancé. It was only a matter of time until she knew the truth about Masaomi and how he was related to Ema.

"Well, I need to tell you something..." Ema began to trail off.

"I've got time..."

"The truth is..." Ema was worried that Aiko was going to hate her. It was evident that Aiko was starting to fall in love with her arranged marriage partner sincerely, so she was trying to find a good way to say it without insulting her and Masaomi. After a couple of seconds, she decided to go right at it. "The truth is... that Masaomi-san is really my older brother!"

This caused Aiko's eyes to widen, as this was huge news to her. She knew that Masaomi had a dead little sister, but she didn't know that it was actually Ema.

As she thought about it a bit more, she started to realize that before she met Masaomi, the only other Asahina she knew well was Iori, even though she had seen Azusa and Yusuke at the hospital at the time when they were informed of Fuyuki's death. However, she never had seen Masaomi until she met him on her first day of work.

"Are you serious?" Aiko was speechless. She was wondering why Ema was so fidgety around Masaomi the day before.

When Ema gave her a slight nod, she realized what was going on. She knew how much work it took for Ema to start a new life and it could get ruined all because of her.

Aiko cleared her throat, trying to break the silence. She was willing to sacrifice everything for her to be happy. After all, she looked at her as a little sister and she would do anything to make her happy."Ema-san, if you'd like, I guess I could call off..."

"No!" Ema suddenly interrupted, knowing that she might call off the engagement because of her. "I really don't want you to give up your happiness because of me! You deserve to be with him!"

"But..."

"Don't worry about me!" Ema cried out to Aiko, trying to convince her not to cancel the engagement. "If it's about my happiness, listen to me! How could I be happy, knowing that I made Fuyuki's older sister cancel her engagement?" At that moment, Aiko paused, realizing that what she was doing was making her sad.

"But what are we going to do?" Aiko told Ema. This was starting to stress her out as she was torn between calling off the engagement and preserving her secret or letting everyone know about her secret, thus ruining everything that she had worked for.

After a bit of thought, Ema gave up, sighing, "I don't know... but we'll have to fix this one way or another..." As they looked at each other, the same thing popped up inside their heads.

"_What have we gotten ourselves into?"_

* * *

**So, did you expect the marriage thing to happen? I'm planning on making Aiko and Masaomi's relationship part of a subplot that would take place either in this volume or the next one, so be sure to look out for that.**

******On another note, if you haven't checked it out already, there is a new poll (not the same one from "I Need Your Heart") that would determine which brothers, out of the top five from the last one, will actually have a chance to end up with Ema. That means that if you haven't already, please select which one(s) you would like to see Ema with.**

**Anyway, how was this chapter? Good? Bad? Okay? Well, be sure to review, as they always motivate me to continue writing this. I hope you will look forward to the next chapter of "I Need Your Smile"! Bye bye!**


	3. Third Chapter: Glimpse

**I Need Your Smile**

**Third Chapter: Glimpse**

On a sunny spring day, Aiko was walking through the streets of Kichijouji, the place where Ema lived before she left home seven years later. Wearing a lab coat, it was clear that she just came back from working at the hospital. Holding a package in her hand, she stopped in front of a mansion, known as the Sunrise Residence.

She had been there before, on many occasions. The first time, she was there to visit Iori, the boyfriend of her sister, the late Fuyuki Shiraishi. Then, she went back to meet Ema, who was dating Fuyuki, who died years ago. Now, it was her turn to meet with someone from that household.

As she rang the doorbell, she was wondering on which brother will show up. Then, after a minute or two, the door opened, revealing a person whom she'd never expect to see again.

"Aiko-nee-san?" a confused Iori was staring straight at her, while she looked at him with spite.

"Iori-san..." she said in contempt, not forgetting what she thought he did to both her younger siblings. "What are you, out of all people, doing here?" That was when she remembered what happened when she told Ema that she was marrying Masaomi. She completely forgot that he was Masaomi's brother and Ema's stepbrother.

"I live here..." he told her, confirming that he was, in fact, Masaomi's brother. "Now it's my turn to ask..."

"Don't talk to me like that! Why do I have to tell you?" she turned her back at Iori, letting her hair sway dramatically. "You haven't forgotten what you did you Fuyuka and Fuyuki, haven't you..."

"It wasn't my fault..." he said rather bluntly, even though he wanted her to hear him out. "I didn't kill them!"

"Stop it... I'll give this to him later..." she said as she began to walk out of the house. However, as she went past the gate, she noticed a tall man staring at her.

The man seemed to be a high schooler, as he was wearing the Bright Centair boys uniform, the same uniform her brother wore before he died. He had light brown hair that was tied into a small ponytail as well as a pair of large hazel eyes. Even though he looked rather handsome, there was a childish aura that was coming out from him.

"Who are you?" he asked questioningly, wondering why a mysterious young woman was standing in front of his house. Looking at him, she figured out that he was one of Masaomi's brothers.

"I believe you're Masaomi's brother!" she smiled at the teenager, who was raising his eyebrow. "I'm his fiancée, Aiko Shiraishi!" Wanting to make a good impression, she held out her hand, hoping he would shake it. However, she was surprised when he slapped her hand away.

"So you're the one who's been stealing Masa-nii away from me!" he screamed at her, pushing her to the ground with all his might, while she winced in pain. He and Masaomi used to be close to each other. In fact, they were practically inseparable until the day when their mother made him get married. That was when he became distant from him. "It's all your fault that he doesn't like me anymore!"

"What?" she asked until another man pulled her up. Realizing that it was Masaomi, she fell into his arms while he looked angrily at the high schooler.

"Wataru!" he scowled as Wataru showed a shocked look on his face. "What are you doing to Aiko! Do you hate my fiancée that much!"

"But she's ruining this family!" he tried to reason with Masaomi. "If it wasn't for her, we'd still be close!" He started kicking the gate while Masaomi focused his attention on Aiko.

"By the way, Aiko, why did you stop by?" he didn't know that Aiko was stopping by, so he wanted to know the reason. Looking at the package in her hand, she stood back up and held it in front of her.

"Well, the AsahinaSisters concert is coming up and Chiyoko-san gave me these tickets as well as these backstage passes!" she told Masaomi, as he remembered that she was able to obtain tickets for AsahinaSisters concerts as well as other stuff, as she was close to Chiyoko Asahina, one of the members. At that moment, Wataru turned around and faced the two.

"Really?" he said excitedly, while the two stared at him strangely. One minute, he was furious at Aiko and then the next minute, he was glad that she came. It was as if the tickets made him forget what happened minutes ago. After all, he was a big fan of said group. Taking the package in his hand, he walked towards the gate before stopping in his tracks, finally realizing what he was doing.

"Don't think that I'm warming up to you... I still hate you, Aiko-nee!" he wanted to clarify to her, still blaming her for stealing his older brother away. As Wataru walked inside the house, Masaomi and Aiko parted ways.

* * *

It was the day of the concert. People were surrounding the stage as Ayako, Michiko and Ema were singing to their fans. It was the last song of the concert and the audience was cheering them on, waving their glowsticks to the beat while the girls were dancing to their song.

Standing within the crowd were a large group of guys, ages ranging from seventeen years to thirty-eight years old. Believe it or not, they were all brothers who, with only one exception, shared the same mother. Who were they, exactly?

Well, they were none other than the Asahina brothers, minus one. Fuuto, who was working as an idol/actor, said that he was too busy to attend, even though he left out that he didn't want to waste his time watching "a bunch of amateurs".

Wataru was standing beside Masaomi, who was holding his fiancée's hand. While Wataru was the most enthusiastic when it came to attending the concert, he was also trying to compete with Aiko for his older brother's attention.

As they were going into the last chorus, Ema was looking around, wanting to see the happy faces of her fans. It always brought her joy whenever she saw that everyone was having a good time in her concerts. However, while scanning the audience, she managed to catch a glimpse of her brothers. Instantly looking away, she sung the last note as she bowed gracefully in front of the cheering audience.

"_What are they doing here? Did Aiko-nee invite them?"_ she nervously thought as the group made their way towards the backstage.

A couple of hours later, after all of the people with backstage passes left, Ema was waiting in her dressing room, wondering why were her brothers there. As she thought nervously, she wanted to know whether or not they were suspicious of her identity.

After thinking about it a bit more, she decided to grab a hair tie from the table. Tying her hair that was dyed black into a ponytail on the side, she looked into the mirror, realizing that she pretty much looked the same as before. Smiling at the mirror, she heard a knock on the door.

"Chiyoko-san," she heard Aiko yell from outside. "Can you come outside for a moment?" Listening to her, she heard a bunch of guys talking to each other.

Opening the door, she saw Aiko smiling at her, grabbing her hand so that she could take her to the group of people she was hanging out with at the concert. However, Ema practically froze when she saw that the group of people she was talking about were her own stepbrothers. If that didn't make the situation worse, she noticed Juli, her former pet squirrel, looking at her from Louis' shoulder, looking surprised.

At that moment, she realized that she was wearing her ponytail as if she was herself from seven years ago. As a result, she yanked the hair tie from her hair as fast as she could while Aiko got her brothers to come over to her.

"Aiko-nee, what are you doing?" Ema nervously whispered to Aiko, taking her away from the brothers to have a private tallk. As one could tell, she was afraid that her secret was going to get exposed right there and then.

"Just do this for me..." Aiko whispered back, begging her to play along. She really wanted to get on the good side of Masaomi's brothers, including Wataru, who hated her with a passion, so she decided to bring them backstage to meet "Chiyoko Asahina". Noticing the pleading look in her eyes, she reluctantly agreed.

Walking back to the group with Aiko, she noticed the suspicious look on some of their faces. She knew that some of them would know who she really was, so she left it to her acting skills to throw them off. Smiling nervously, she politely bowed towards them.

"H-Hello..." she quietly greeted to the brothers, who were still staring at her. "I'm Chiyoko Asahina... Nice to meet you..." as she trailed off, she desperately wanted to get away from this, seeing as those few seconds felt like hours. Unfortunately, seeing as Aiko wanted her to do this so that she could get on her future brother-in-laws' good sides, she had no choice but to endure it.

Then, at that exact moment, Wataru jumped on her and pulled her into a hug. Seeing as he was a big fan of hers, this was expected. "I'm so glad to meet you, Chiyoko-chan!" Looking at her little brother, she smiled at the fact that he was still the same, despite growing into a tall, handsome teenager. However, the fact that she had to keep her identity a secret from him pained her.

Looking around at all the other brothers, she started to have a pained look on her face as she saw how they were like seven years after her apparent death.

Masaomi, Ukyo and Azusa were smiling at how Wataru was still rather childish after those seven years. Kaname was staring at Ema lustfully, just like how he would do with other girls, while Louis was too busy taking care of Juli, who was looking at her very suspiciously.

At the same time, some of the others, namely Tsubaki, Natsume, Subaru, Iori and Yusuke had pained looks on their faces, as seeing "Chiyoko Asahina" reminded them of their "dead" little sister. Meanwhile, Hikaru was smirking at the sight of her. After running into her at the airport, he was certain that this was the little sister his brothers were longing to be with for more than seven years.

After seeing how they were doing, she sincerely wished them happiness, even if some of them were the ones who were responsible for the death of her "one and only love", Fuyuki. Then, out of nowhere, she suddenly felt some weight on her right shoulder. Turning her head to see said shoulder, her eyes widened when she saw an angry Juli staring at her.

"Chiiiiiiiiiii!" he squeaked while Ema was starting to get scared inside. She could feel the beating of her heart get faster as sweat started to drip down the side of her head. "What's the meaning of this! Why did you have to leave me behind with those wolves!"

"_Juli... don't do this..." _she was crying on the inside as she heard her pet squirrel yell at her.

"I missed you so much, Chi, haven't you known that?" Juli screamed desperately, wanting so badly for her to hear. "I felt like such a failure for preventing your suicide, and yet you're here! Haven't you seen the hell I've been through! Chi, listen to me!"

While Ema was feeling tears pooling into her eyes, she noticed that Louis was looking at her strangely. This made her realize that she needed to do something that would cause his suspicion to cease. After a bit of thinking, she thought of something that she could do, although it was something that would put her acting skills to the test.

"_Juli... Forgive me... I really am sorry..."_

That was when she faked a terrible cough, catching the attention of everyone, including Juli, who let go of her shoulder when she "fell" due to her cough. Coughing violently to her elbow, Tsubaki suddenly ran towards her, shocking the girl. Seeing as this was the person who killed Fuyuki, she was afraid, but she still had to pretend that she was sick.

"What's going on, Chiyoko-san?" Aiko asked as Tsubaki carried her on her back, causing Hikaru to smile at the sight.

"I-I'm..." she let out another round of fake coughs before continuing. "I-I'm allergic to squirrels! I have to go before it g-gets worse!" After seeing how "sick" she was, Tsubaki carried her towards the dressing room while Hikaru looked at them, smiling at how her acting skills could be better than Fuuto's.

Meanwhile, Louis quickly took Juli into his hands, while the latter was trying to squirm his way out of his hands. However, he just told the others that he's going to go home, wanting to get Juli away from Chiyoko, who was "really allergic to squirrels". As they left, Hikaru, already satisfied for that day's drama, decided to catch up with his younger brother.

At the same time, Ema jumped off of Tsubaki's back and ran to get a glass of water to wash her nervousness away. However, as the water went into her mouth, she instantly spat it out when she realized that Tsubaki was still there.

"What are you still doing here? You should be gone by now..." Ema nervously asked Tsubaki who only sat down on one of the couches. She wouldn't have been fine if it was another brother was in the room, but since it was Tsubaki, whom she couldn't manage to forgive, it made the situation worse.

Tsubaki turned to face Ema, not uttering a single word. Ema looked rather nervous when she looked at him, but when he showed a sad look on his face, her facial expression changed and she began to wonder why.

"You really remind me of _her_..." Tsubaki sighed as a tear managed to escape from his eyes. While Ema started to look at him with pity, she quickly looked away after realizing that she was feeling bad for someone she hated. At that moment, Ayako swiftly slammed the door open as she skipped merrily into the room. After noticing Tsubaki, who was looking down on the floor sadly, she stopped and stared at him.

"Why so glum?" Ayako asked somewhat innocently as she walked towards Tsubaki. At this point, Ema really wanted him to leave her alone, thinking that he deserved to feel this way, but she stopped after she heard Tsubaki talk to Ayako.

"Let me tell you a story..." Tsubaki quietly told Ayako, who became quiet after hearing the sadness in his voice. Meanwhile, Ema decided to let them talk to each other, since she wanted to hear what Tsubaki was going to say.

"Seven years ago, I was madly in love with someone... Whenever another guy approached her, I would become so jealous that I would do anything to tear them apart, just as long as she would be with me in the end... One day, she managed to find herself a boyfriend. As usual, I was super jealous, seeing as he was a threat..."

Hearing what he said so far caused tears to fall from her eyes. After all, it reminded her so much of Fuyuki. She remembered how he smiled, how he laughed, how he cried, and especially, how he died. However, she furiously wiped them all away. She told herself that she wasn't going to cry right there and then, especially not in front of the person she hated with a passion.

"On Christmas Eve, I decided to follow them on their date... However, I couldn't take it anymore, so I drank until I couldn't drink anymore. Then, when I was going to drive home, I carelessly ran over the poor guy, killing him..."

"Really?" Ayako asked Tsubaki, wondering what happened next. Meanwhile, Ema was trying to muffle her sobs with her jacket as she heard the rest.

"If that didn't make the situation worse, I snapped right in front of her, saying that I would never apologize for what I did... Then, she screamed, 'I hate you!'. That night, I felt bad for what I did to her, so I told myself that I would apologize the next day..." Tsubaki took a deep breath as he was going to say the hard part. "However, the next day didn't come... She killed herself, only leaving a suicide letter behind..."

Ema couldn't take it anymore. She ran outside the dressing room, going where her feet took her. It reminded her too much of her dark past and how she wished it was all just a hellish nightmare. No words could describe how much she wanted to just wake up in Fuyuki's arms to be told that it was just a bad dream. Sadly, this was reality.

Running into the bathroom, she washed her face and looked at herself in the mirror. Seeing her eyes red from all the tears, she had one thing on her mind.

"_Is that how Tsubaki-san really feels or is he just making up excuses? He seemed as if he didn't have any regrets when he ran over Fuyuki, but now, I'm not so sure..."_

* * *

Moments earlier, when Louis took Juli away from Ema, he walked towards the train station while his pet squirrel was squirming in his hands, trying to break free. He heard everything that Juli screamed, since he could also undertand what he was trying to say while the others could only hear a bunch of squeaks come from his mouth.

"Louis!" Juli screamed, trying to wrestle away from him. "Why did you take me away! She's really Chi, I'm telling you!" As he screamed louder and louder, Louis just had to endure his seemingly endless squeaking.

"That can't be..." Louis pointed out, remembering that Chiyoko started having a coughing fit when Juli started questioning her. "She's allergic to squirrels, isn't she? You saw her cough badly when you were asking her those questions..."

"I've got it!" Juli interrupted Louis, who just stared at the squirrel, staying quiet. "She's pretending to be allergic to me because she doesn't want those wolves harassing her! That has to be it, but I have to talk to her, still!"

While Louis was still holding Juli in the palm of his hands, Hikaru suddenly ran up to his younger brother, giving him a faint smile. As he smiled back, another thing came up in his mind.

"Hikaru-nii..."

"What is it, Louis?"

"I heard that one of your novels is being adapted into a drama, isn't that right?" Louis brought up as Hikaru stopped walking. Turning around, he continued. "The one about _her_, right? I think it was called 'My Sister, My Love', am I right?"

Hikaru nodded his head at his younger brother. Just a while after Ema's "suicide", he became really sad, so he decided to write a novel about her story, from when she first moved into the house until her death. When it was published, it became rather popular, though many people wondered why he started writing a romance novel.

Years later, a TV network asked him if they could adapt it into a drama. They even told him that he could be a part in selecting the characters. Of course, he agreed, even though he couldn't think of a perfect match for Ema's character... until he found Chiyoko Asahina at the airport one fateful day.

"Hikaru-nii..." Louis asked his older brother, who turned around to face him. He, like the other brothers, knew about the drama and that he was a part of choosing who will play which character. "So... have you thought about which actress will play _her_?"

Hikaru only told him mysteriously, "I know which actress I hope would play her, and I've already made a request to the production team..."

That was when he saw Ema run past him. Just a moment ago, she was dropped off at her dressing room by Tsubaki, who ended up telling Ayako his side of the story. When he turned to look at her, he gave a sinister smile as he stared at her running figure.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Well, that was longer than I had originally planned, but whatever... So how was it? Remember, I'm not an expert when it comes to show business and that kind of stuff, so I just made it up as I went.**

**Originally, I was going to make Tsubaki keep the same personality from "I Need Your Heart", which was pretty much being a possessive bastard, since at the time I was planning the series, the anime was at the part where Tsubaki was acting that way. However, after seeing him mature as the series went on, I decided to let him mature throughout the seven years and do an alternate route instead... (Still, there will be possessive bastards in this series as well. It's just that Tsubaki won't be one of them...)**

**As for the poll, I said that it will end when Chapter 6 is posted, so if you haven't already, vote. The ending is in your hands...**

**I hope you enjoyed it, and don't forget to review, follow and/or favourite! Bye bye!**


	4. Fourth Chapter: Recollection

**I Need Your Smile**

**Fourth Chapter: Recollection**

It had been eight years since the day where Fuyuki confessed to Ema. As the cherry blossoms blew across the sky, Ema, dressed mostly in black, was sitting in front of Fuyuki's gravestone, tears cascading down her face. Looking at the name that etched onto the stone, she remembered all of the moments she shared with him.

She could remember everything, from the day they met to the day he died. That was what pained her. Even though it was years after she first met him, she just couldn't move on. She was so in love with Fuyuki that she couldn't love anyone else.

"Hello, Fuyuki..." she whispered into the air, as if she was speaking to Fuyuki himself.

Silence filled the air as the sounds of trees rustling in the wind echoed throughout her ears. Of course, she wasn't expecting an answer either, but at least it gave her the peace of mind.

"A lot of things had happened since you were gone..." There was more silence, while the trees rustled again.

"I decided to follow your dream and I became an idol..." she whispered softly, almost as tender as a bird's sweet melody. As tears began to flow from her eyes, she suddenly remembered what happened earlier, when her brothers suddenly showed up at the concert.

"Also... I saw my brothers again for the first time in a while..." She cried quietly, quieter than a mouse's squeak. "The first time since _that _happened." She could remember the events from that Christmas date as if it was yesterday.

The movie played in her head. She could vividly remember Fuyuki running towards her, waving a bouquet in his had. One minute, she was happy and the next, she was crying. Just moments after, he was run over by a car... one that was driven by one of her very own brothers. The next day, she ran away from home.

As she began to sob more and more, she finally decided that it was time that she should leave the gravestone. Placing a gentle kiss on the cold stone, she stood up and slowly turned away, letting her hair flow with all the cherry blossoms.

Also saying goodbye to Fuyuka, she made her way past all of the other gravestones, as well as the people who occasionally walked past her. However, when she made her way to the gate, she noticed a familiar car parked right in front of it.

Watching the people walk out of the car, her eyes widened when Masaomi and Aiko walked out, hand in hand. They were both dressed in black, as they were going to visit both Fuyuki and Fuyuka's graves. At they were walking closer to her, she tried to avoid their gaze, hoping that she wouldn't get noticed. Needless to say, it didn't work.

"Em... Chiyoko-san!" Aiko stuttered, pleasantly surprised. "Are you here to visit Fuyuki?" Ema was trying to avert Masaomi's gaze, while the other was looking at her suspiciously.

"I have to go..." was all she said before she walked past the couple. She knew that if Masaomi knew why she was at Fuyuki's grave, he would end up knowing everything. While Aiko sighed, Masaomi couldn't stop looking at Ema.

"Aiko?" Masaomi asked his fiancée, loosening his grip on her hand. "Is there a reason why Chiyoko-san was here?" He knew that she had to be there for a reason, so he just had to know what was going on.

"Well, she and Fuyuki used to..." she tensed up, knowing what she almost got into. If she continued that sentence, he would find out just about everything, and that wouldn't be good for both Aiko and Ema. "They were good friends as children..." She sighed, hoping that it would ease some of Masaomi's suspicion.

"I see..." Masaomi let go of Aiko's hand as they walked towards Fuyuki's grave. She knew that he had some suspicions about Chiyoko, so she tried again to ease them.

"We're going to Ema-san's grave after this, right?" Masaomi then let out a sad sigh, reminding him that Ema was "dead", no matter what suspicions he may have. Aiko was relieved, knowing that Ema's secret was safe for the time being. However there was a sense of insecurity that went throughout her mind.

"Masaomi..." Aiko stopped walking while her fiancé stopped with her. "Tell me the truth, are you still in love with _her_?" In response, he only smiled sadly at Aiko, who looked at the ground.

"Even though she's dead, I-I guess I still am..." Masaomi admitted while Aiko felt a tear escape her eye. Clenching her fist, she walked towards the grave, but Masaomi quickly grabbed her arm so that he could tell her something.

"I'll never leave your side, though..." he reminded his fiancée for the nth time. Trying to supress the tears, she quickly yanked her arm away from his hand and walked towards Fuyuki's grave, while Masaomi followed her.

"Why, Masaomi... Why?" Aiko cried softly, almost as quiet as a whisper. She was really in love with Masaomi, but she was saddened by the fact that he still had feelings for Ema, who was like a little sister to her. Clenching her fist, she vowed to never let Masaomi know that Ema was still alive, for it would potentially ruin her chances of being with him.

* * *

As she was walking to the bus station, Ema suddenly felt a vibration in her pocket. Taking her cell phone out, she looked at the screen, which told her that she got a text message. Looking through the messages, she saw the message displayed brightly on the screen.

_**From: Michiko-san**_

_**Ema-san! Meet us at the studio ASAP! The manager has good news!**_

Even though she wasn't really in the mood to, as she just left her boyfriend's grave, she suddenly felt a gust of wind blow towards her, sending her hair flying before it fell right back down. Seeing as it was probably Fuyuki encouraging her to go from above, she decided to see what was going on.

Minutes later, the taxi stopped right in front of the studio. As she opened the door, she politely thanked the driver before walking through the studio doors. Walking through the hallways, she then noticed Ayako running towards her excitedly, while Michiko was maturely walking behind the enthusiastic girl.

"Ayako-san," Ema asked politely. "Why are you excited? Did something happen!"

"It's something worth being excited about!" she exclaimed in a loud, singsong voice, while Michiko trailed behind.

"The manager wants to see you..." Michiko had a smile on her face, a genuine smile that she rarely shared with anyone except her closest friends. Ema noticed this, thus realizing that this was something of importance.

Waving goodbye to her friends and bandmates, she walked towards the manager's office, walking past all of the idols that were wandering about. When she finally reached the door, she politely knocked, wondering what would be in store for her. As soon as he opened the door, he quickly let her inside. As she sat on a couch, she watched the manager as he rummaged through his desk.

"Is there any reason as to why you called me here?" Ema was really curious after seeing Ayako and Michiko's reaction, so it had to be something important.

"In fact, there is," he was rummaging through a bunch of files before finding a novel that was hidden under the stacks of papers. "You know how you keep on getting minor roles when it comes to acting?" As soon as he said that, Ema's face suddenly brightened.

"Yes," she said rather excitedly, as if she knew what was in store for her. He then handed her a novel before saying anything else. On the front was the silhouette of a long haired girl with the title "My Sister, My Love" printed on it. It was a rather thick novel, possibly being around 450 pages long. As soon as she saw it, she instantly remembered that it was a hit in Japan around the time she was in America. When she returned, she noticed that a lot of the bookstores were still selling it.

"This novel is going to get a TV drama adaptation, since it was really popular a couple of years ago." the manager informed, before going to his desk to retrieve a file. "It's about a high school student who falls in love with his classmate, only to be surprised when... I guess you'll have to read it for yourself!" The manager seemed excited for this project, almost as if it involved his favourite novel.

"So what is this all about?" Ema politely asked. She knew that she was going to act in this drama, but she wanted to know more details.

"Well, it turns out that the author requested that you play the heroine!" he told Ema as she brightened up. This was her first offer to play a major character, so naturally, she would accept it. As she couldn't stop smiling, the manager told her a bit more information before he told her to read the book in order to study her character. As she left the office, she went straight for the lounge, so she could curl up and read a good book.

* * *

Michiko and Ayako walked into the lounge when they noticed someone on the couch, in fetal position. Wanting to check it out, they walked towards the girl, who buried her face in her hands while a book was on the floor, opened to a page. It was only a few seconds until they realized that it was Ema.

"Chiyoko-san!" they ran towards the crying girl, trying to figure out what was going on. While Ayako was shaking Ema back and forth, Michiko noticed the book lying on the ground and picked it up, reading the page it was on.

"What's wrong! What's wrong!" Ayako shrieked, while the other people the were roaming around the studio tried to ignore what was going on.

"That... That book!" Ema cried in despair, before returning to fetal position. While Ayako tried to get answers from Ema, Michiko began to read out a couple of lines from the book, believing it had something to do with why Ema was crying.

"_Then, all of a sudden, the car hit __Makoto__ and knocked him to the ground."_ Michiko read aloud, finally understanding what caused Ema to cry like that. _"If that wasn't enough, it also ran straight over the guy, right in front of __Haruka__'s eyes. As the sound of bones breaking became audible, there were a lot of screams coming from the bystanders."_

At that moment, Ema began to sob again, causing Ayako to run towards the girl in an attempt to comfort her. Both Aiko and Michiko knew by then why Ema was crying.

Michiko looked at Ema sympathetically before looking back at the book to read some more phrases aloud. _"Haruka__ could only stand there in shock. She just looked at the car that just ran over her boyfriend. As tears began to pool in her eyes, she noticed that the car was, in fact, the family car. Then, as she looked at __Makoto__, she could see the blood ooze into the snow, tainting it crimson red."_

"Stop it!" Ayako commanded while Michiko finally closed the book. "We get it! It has something to do with her past, so stop reminding her!" While Ema looked at Ayako, she slowly wiped a tear away, before standing up.

"It's okay..." Ema stood up, wiping the remaining tears off of her face as she took the novel from Michiko's hands. However, when she looked at the cover, she noticed something that she didn't notice before, causing all of the colours to drain from her face.

Why? Well, at that moment, Ema noticed the words "Based Off A True Story". Of course, if it was that alone, it wouldn't be a big deal, but that wasn't the only thing that was on the front cover. In fact, Ema was more worried about the author, who was none other than Hikaru Asahina, her older brother. At that moment, she realized that the book was an accurate depiction of her dark past, the one she had tried to run away from for the past seven years.

If that made things bad, another thing happened that made it worse. Just when she was walking away, a thin piece of paper slipped from the pages, falling gracefully towards the floor. Out of curiosity, she picked it up and read it on her way to the dressing room while the others trailed behind.

However, in the middle of the hallway, she instantly stopped in her tracks, dropping the note while her hands were shaking in fear. Seeing this, Michiko and Ayako ran up towards the girl, who just stared at the note, eyes wide open.

"Chiyoko!" Ayako said worriedly, while Michiko ran towards that note. "What's wrong?" As Ayako was trying, yet again, to get Ema to answer, Michiko picked up the note and became shocked as she read the words. Noticing this, Ayako grabbed the note from Michiko and looked at the note, reading every word.

"_**Hey, Chi Asahina... or should I say 'Imouto-chan'?**_

_**I see that you're going to play Haruka, the heroine in my book 'My Sister, My Love', but that's not important now! I'm going to meet you at the lounge at the studio, so don't try to run away from me... Okay? Okay!**_

_**From your older brother, Hikaru..."**_

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Hi, it's me! So how was this chapter? Good? Bad? Feel free to review, as I love reading what you think about this story!**

**So, it's almost the sixth chapter, and that means that the poll will be over soon! Which brother do you want Ema to end up with? Will it be Iori, Natsume, Subaru, Louis or Yusuke? Cast in your vote to have your say!**

**Anyway, please remember to review, favourite and/or follow, because I'm always glad to see those! Thanks! Bye bye!**


	5. Fifth Chapter: Master Plan

**I Need Your Smile**

**Fifth Chapter: Master Plan**

Ema's heart throbbed mercilessly as she paced around the studio's lounge. A day earlier, she received a message from her older brother, Hikaru, saying that he knew who she really was and that he would meet her the next day. Knowing about that, she spent the entire night trying to develop a disguise that would fool him, if she was lucky.

Holding her hands to her chest, she sat down on the couch took out a mirror. As she looked at herself, she stroked her long, black hair, which was brown before she moved to America seven years back. She knew that even though it looked different, there was still something that caused suspicion among the brothers, and she wanted to know how to fix that. After all, at all costs, she would never want to go through her previous pain again.

Tapping her foot impatiently on the ground, she stood up and walked towards the window. Looking at the sky, she imagined that Fuyuki was standing on the clouds looking after her, almost like a guardian angel. He would be smiling down at her, wishing her the very best. If only that were true...

All of a sudden, she heard the door open. As she heard a couple of footsteps, she could tell that someone was going closer to her. Then, when a hand rested on her shoulder, she turned around quickly and dramatically.

Of course, in front of her was none other than Hikaru Asahina, the person who wanted to see her. That day, he was dressed as a male, donning a black suit. His long orange hair was tied into a ponytail and was even longer than Ema's, going straight down his back, stopping just past his legs. As he smiled at her, she tried to inch away, but he took her hand just in time.

"Let me take you somewhere, _Chi Asahina_," Hikaru told her mysteriously, causing Ema to stop trying to get away.

Seeing that mysterious smile on his face, she reluctantly let Hikaru walk her. Every step they took, her heart began to beat ten times faster. Besides, she was nervous about what he was going to do, since, as his stepsister, she knew what he was like. However, when they made it to the door of the studio, she quickly yanked her arm away from his grip, surprising the man.

"Chi-san, what's wrong?" Hikaru stopped her from running away. Ema was desperate to find some way out of it. She worked so hard for her secret to be kept, and she was not going to let it crumble because of one persistent brother. Taking a deep breath to calm down, she decided to put her acting skills to the test, yet again.

"So what was it you wanted to talk to me about, _Asahina-san_?" Ema asked in a professional tone of voice, hoping that it would throw Hikaru off. However, it seemed like he wasn't buying it, as he began to chuckle bitterly. While Ema looked at him, he suddenly pinned her on a wall, not letting Ema move a single inch.

"Don't play dumb with me, _Ema Hinata_!" he screamed at her, while tears started to form in his eyes. As Ema looked at the pained look he had, she began to cry as well. "Don't you know the pain you caus to all of us? Didn't you think about that before you disappeared? Tell me, you are Ema Hinata!"

"Hikaru-san..." Ema couldn't take it anymore. She was aware that she caused all of her brothers pain, but she never knew that it was this bad.

"You are Ema Hinata, aren't you..." he cried loudly. It was clear that he really missed his little sister, so when he saw her at the airport that day, he was overjoyed. He didn't tell any of his brothers about the detail, as he wanted to have some fun before his _master plan_ came into effect. "Please..."

"Alright!" Ema admitted as Hikaru moved out-of-the-way when she fell to her knees. "I'm Ema Hinata, okay? Please just stop doing this!" As she buried her face into her hands, she sobbed loudly, knowing what was potentially going to happen.

While she was on the ground, sobbing, Hikaru then realized what he had done. He felt extremely bad for the pain he caused her moments earlier. Without asking further questions, he went down and pulled her into a hug, while she just cried right nto his shoulders. Even though Hikaru moved on years ago, it still felt nice to hug his little sister like that.

Seconds turned to minutes, and after a while, it had already been an hour. Ema had cried out all of her tears by that point, but she was still embracing her older brother. After all, it had been seven long years. Then, at that moment, Hikaru broke the hug and pulled her to her feet.

"Imouto-chan," Hikaru said softly. "I'm going to go now, but there's something that I want to know." As he looked at Ema, she gave him a slight nod before he continued. "Why did you disappear? You left a suicide note, yet you're still here? Why didn't you come back?" Hikaru felt bad when he saw her face darken, but he knew that she was going to still answer.

"Honestly, I was planning on committing suicide that day..." Ema admitted while Hikaru started to feel bad for her. "I was too hurt by the fact that Fuyuki died, so it was the first thing that came into my mind. However, later that day, his older sister found me, and I had realized that what I did was wrong." She took a deep breath in order to explain the next part better. "Then, as I was talking to Aiko, I mentioned that I wanted to have a new life, and I was eventually given that chance when I decided to go to America to become an idol..."

"But why didn't you tell us?" Hikaru inquired, keeping his cool. "It was clear that we were all worried about you? Couldn't you at least use e-mail, the phone or even the postal system?"

"What would happen then?" Ema interrupted politely, grabbing the older brother's attention. "I knew that they were fighting over me, even before I met Fuyuki... If I were to return, everything would be the way that it was..." While Ema looked down, Hikaru walked towards the exit, but stopped right before the door.

"I see..." Hikaru reassured his little sister. "In that case, tomorrow, I want you to meet with me here. I need to discuss the role with you and get you ready so that you could look the part..." Then, he went through the revolving door before going out of Ema's sight.

While Ema kept that in mind, she was wondering what there was to discuss about. After all, his story was her real life experience. She also wondered why she had to _look the part_. All these questions surfaced throughout her head, but since she was tired from everything that was going on, she decided to go straight back to Aiko's house to rest.

Meanwhile, Hikaru was smiling sinisterly as he walked back to his apartment. For now, he would keep Ema's secret, but when she would meet with him the next day, his master plan would commence.

* * *

It was a normal work day for the group. Having finished all of the work that they had to do, it was finally the end of the day for Ayako, Michiko and Ema. As they were walking throughout the studio, they were talking about what happened with Hikaru.

"So you told him that you're _her_?" Michiko exclaimed, while Ema only nodded in response. "Why the hell did you do that?" She knew that Ema tried so hard to keep her secret, so she was surprised when she was told that she told Hikaru.

"It's not like refusing to tell him would do anything... Apparently, he already knew about it, so it can't be helped..." Ema tried to defend herself. Of course, she would prefer to keep that secret away from him, but due to his demeanour the day before, along with the fact that he already knew, she gave up. "Besides, it's not like he would tell everyone..."

"Really..." Michiko argued back, keeping her stance on the situation. "Are you sure he wouldn't tell anyone behind your back? He seems pretty shady to me!" Ema looked down, agreeing with her last point.

"I guess I'll have to take care of it, then..." Ema accepted responsibility for telling one of her brothers, especially since it was Hikaru. It was true that he would be the type to play with people's feelings. He even had some fun with her brothers' feelings for her at one point.

As they were walking, Ema wasn't paying attention, since all of a sudden, she felt a bump on her shoulder while hearing the sound of someone falling on the ground.

"Watch where you're going, will ya?" The man rudely yelled out at her. Ema quickly turned around and politely bowed, saying, "I'm sorry...". Instantly, the man recognized that voice. In a bit of a shock, he muttered, "Nee-san?"

Ema's eyes began to widen upon hearing that voice, recognizing it as one of her brothers. Out of all of them, only two of them were younger than her, and only one of the two would call them "Nee-san", while the other called her "Onee-chan". The person was none other than, Fuuto, the one who was idol even before she became one.

As he began to turn around, Ema's heart began to thump, nervous that another one would figure out her identity. However, she noticed that his face of recognition turned into a face of disappointment.

"You can't be her. She's way prettier than you'd ever be..." Fuuto smirked, almost as if he was punishing her for "deceiving" him. Was she supposed to be offended, or should she be glad that she escaped his suspicion.

"What did you say?" Ayako screamed at Fuuto, outraged at his last comment. "You're one to talk! You should look in the mirror! You're the ugliest person I've ever met!" she argued childishly, sticking her tongue out at him.

"What the hell!" Fuuto told Ayako, who was already fuming with anger. "Seems like I've encountered an idiot over here! I wonder who that is..." He smirked back at Ayako, who was starting to become annoyed as she muttered, "Why you little..."

"Boo!" someone suddenly started Ema from behind. While Ayako and Fuuto were quarreling, she turned around and found Hikaru, smiling at her. "Are you ready to go?" Hikaru asked Ema, reminding her that she was going to meet with him.

Giving him a slight nod, they left the commotion and went towards his car. However, he suddenly took a blindfold and tied it around her eyes. Ema was starting feel uncomfortable at that moment, but seeing as it was her brother, she decided to simply trust him.

As she was led into the car, she began to think about her previous encounters with Fuuto and Tsubaki. A while back, she remembered when Tsubaki was talking to Ayako. Even though she had doubts about what he said, she still noticed how much he matured over the years. Meanwhile, Fuuto didn't change one bit. He was still immature and snarky, shown when he was quarrelling with Ayako earlier. To her, even though she still wasn't able to forget what they did to Fuyuki, she sincerely hoped that they would mature and eventually apologize for their actions seven years ago.

Then, as she felt the car pull into a parking lot, she wondered what he brought her to. Taking her out of the car, he led her into a building, a store to be exact. It was most likely a hair salon, as there was a slight fragrance of hair lingering in the air.

While she was standing, another man took her and sat her down on one of the chairs, while Hikaru whispered, "Make _Chiyoko Asahina_ look like _her_...". As the hairdresser stroked her hair, it seemed as if he was saddened by looking at her. After all, he missed her badly. He then took his scissors and began to work on her hair.

As Ema was sitting there, she suddenly had a sense of deja-vu. She could remember sitting in a chair back home, while Louis, her older brother and a hairdresser, was using his long and nimble fingers to style her hair.

Then, after what felt like hours, the hairdresser was done with his work. As he walked towards Hikaru, he suddenly walked towards Ema and smiled at the work the hairdresser did. He did such a good job, in his eyes. All of a sudden, while Ema was anxious about what had happened, Hikaru whispered into her ear, "Now, my master plan will begin... _Ema Hinata__._".

Suddenly, Ema felt both suspicious and nervous. After all, she knew, at that moment, that Hikaru had an ulterior motive for all of this. Hastily removing the blindfold, she was surprised when she noticed her older brother, Louis, the hairdresser that had worked on her hair, and Hikaru, the one who took her there.

However, that wasn't the only reason why she was shocked. As she looked at herself in the mirror, her heart started to beat faster. Why? Well, it was because Hikaru tricked her into exposing her own secret by getting Louis to make her look like herself seven years ago. As tears began to form in her eyes, she realized that she would soon appear on that TV drama, something that would tell her stepbrothers the secret she had tried so hard to keep.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**So, the sixth chapter will be posted sometime next week, which means that the poll will be closed by then. Unlike the last poll, I will not reveal the results, as it will spoil my story. So, if you haven't already, vote!**

**Other than that, I hope you liked this chapter! Bye bye!**


	6. Sixth Chapter: Good News

**I Need Your Smile**

**Sixth Chapter: Good News**

"W-What do you mean?" Ema asked her older brother nervously, wondering what she was going to do now she looks like her former self again. "What master plan are you talking about?" Ema's eyes then widened as she suddenly realized what Hikaru meant when he smiled at her sinisterly. "You're not going to reveal my secret, are you?"

"Of course not! I wouldn't _say_ something like that!" Hikaru smiled back, having another plan in mind "However, you can't just keep secrets like that, so if I make you look like your former self, then everyone will find out who you really are..." Ema looked back at him teary eyed, feeling betrayed by one of her own stepbrothers.

"How could you?" Ema screamed, ignoring all the other customers as tears glided down her cheeks. She had worked so hard to hide from them, even changing her appearance to disguise that. If she knew what Hikaru's master plan was before she agreed, she would've declined the role altogether. Now, not only would she risk being found out by looking like her former self, she would also have to appear on national television looking like that, something that would scream, "Hello, Japan! I am really Ema Hinata... that missing girl from seven years ago!"

As Hikaru looked at her distressed face, he walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, prompting her to look at him. He could tell that she was furious at him, but his brothers' well being was higher on the priority list than concealing Ema's secret. If that wasn't the case, why would he have a master plan in the first place? "It's unfair for you to hide from your brothers! When you left that suicide letter, some of them were on the verge of killing themselves! Thank goodness that they're still alive, because if they killed themselves while you were hiding in plain sight, I don't think I would be able to forgive you!"

Before all of this happened, Ema would hide all her feelings of anger within her heart. However, after growing up a bit, she became able to scream whenever she was angry. This was one of those moments.

"So what?" Ema shrieked loudly as Hikaru was staring at her. "It wasn't my fault that Tsubaki and Fuuto killed Fuyuki! If they never did that, none of this would've happened!" Ema was at her breaking point already. She was really angry at Hikaru for doing all of this. She never would've imagined that she would be betrayed by one of the ones she looked up to.

"I get what you're saying, but what about everyone else?" Hikaru inquired, as Ema's eyes widened again. "I know that Tsubaki and Fuuto killed Shiraishi-san, but what about the other eleven? They were innocent of any crimes, yet you still punish them by 'killing yourself'!"

Hikaru stared at his little sister as she tried to find the words to say. The more she thought about it, the more it sank into her mind that she had really hurt them. After a while, Ema realized that she was in the wrong. Realizing what she had done, she fell to the floor and cried, while Hikaru comforted her.

"I'm sorry!" Ema sobbed as Hikaru took her into his arms. Before, Ema was blinded by Tsubaki's and Fuuto's past mistakes that she never thought of everyone else. Even on the day of that argument, she could remember some of her brothers coming into her room to comfort her. When they left that day, the next thing she did was attempting suicide and then running away, leaving them all broken-hearted.

Holding her tight, Hikaru comforted her as much as he could. All of the anger within him had subsided, so he wanted to make her feel better. "Don't cry, Imouto-chan..." He smiled as he placed his finger on a tear that was pooling in her eyes, letting it fall down. "You're cute when you smile, so please do that for me..." At that moment, Ema wiped her tears away and stood up, accepting the risk Hikaru forced her to take.

Ema promptly turned away and walked out of the salon, tears still falling from her eyes, while Hikaru placed the cash on his counter before following Ema. Ema was worried about what was going to happen now. One could tell that she really didn't want this to happen. For one thing, if she returns, life would return to how it was like before Fuyuki came, but another thing is that she didn't want to face her brothers after hurting them badly. The pain would be too much for her to handle. Even if they did find out, she would still try her best to avoid the ones who cared for her the most.

* * *

Earlier, after cutting Ema's hair, Louis walked back to grab a bottle of water. As he was drinking, he remembered all of the moments he, along with all of his adoptive brothers, shared with their beloved sister. He could remember the wedding of his adoptive mother and her adoptive father. He knew that both of them weren't blood related, but that didn't change anything. All of the brothers had a special bond with her; a bond that surpassed all blood relations.

Making his way back to his brother and her sister, he stopped when he heard loud screams coming from the salon. He knew that this was inevitable, since he was going to do something that would reveal her secret to everyone. The day before, Hikaru broke his promise to Ema by telling Louis about her identity, since it was essential for his master plan.

While they were screaming, Louis took this time to think about his relationship with Ema. Before, he was an older brother to Ema, and a brotherly one at that. He, along with Juli, made up the "Protect Chi-chan Club". Despite all of that, there was a feeling deep within him, one that he had hidden from Juli. In reality, he was really in love with Ema. Even after those seven excruciating years of believing she was really dead, his love still remained, while some of the others had managed to move on.

The day before, when Hikaru informed him that Ema was, in fact, alive and living as an idol named, Chiyoko "Chi" Asahina, Louis was ecstatic, albeit dumbfounded. He remembered that time where Juli was trying to convince him that Chi Asahina was really Ema Hinata. Even though there were similarities, such as her nickname "Chi", the pain of losing her made him believe that she couldn't be his beloved little sister.

After Hikaru told him that Chiyoko Asahina was really his beloved stepsister, he was glad that she was alive and well. After all, he had lived seven whole years without his beloved. Then, he began to think to himself. What if he kept this information to himself? Only Hikaru would know and he believed that Hikaru would keep it to himself. After all, it wasn't like Hikaru was going to break his promise to Ema. If he kept this to himself, he could use it to his advantage so that they could be with each other once and for all.

When she was dating Fuyuki, he had to admit that he was jealous, even though he still respected her feelings for him. However, when he was run over by Tsubaki and Fuuto, he felt sad for Ema. Being the brotherly figure he was, he comforted Ema in the best way he could, but that didn't prevent her from attempting suicide. Then, after his love withstood the test of time, he heard the good news from Hikaru. This was his second chance of being with Ema and he didn't want to let it go.

Walking out of the room, he noticed that Hikaru and Ema had already left the salon. Picking up the money that was left on the counter, he looked out the window to see Hikaru's car drive by. As he saw Ema's sad face, another thing went up in his mind.

"_If only Juli __could be__ here __to see this__..._" he thought to himself as he looked at the picture of Juli and him placed on the counter. The day after the concert, Juli had mysteriously disappeared, probably wanting to look for the one he was supposed to protect. Louis couldn't blame him, though, as he was about to do the same thing.

Before turning away from the counter, he said to himself, "Even though I have already found her, I hope you will find her too, Juli..." As he grabbed the keys, he closed the shop before making his way towards the Sunrise Residence, allowing himself to enjoy the cherry blossoms that flew during the warm spring day.

* * *

It had been six months since the day Ema first accepted her role as "Haruka", who was her own counterpart in Hikaru's novel, "My Sister, My Love". Shooting had finished a while ago so Ema used the extra time to restyle her hair so that it would look different from how she looked like seven and a half years ago.

On the day the first episode was going to air, Ema walked towards the studio, letting her long, curly, dark brown hair flow with the cold, autumn wind. There was going to be a party in the lounge and the actors, as well as a lot of well-known names in the show business, were going to be there. After all, this was a highly anticipated series, considering that the book was already popular.

Walking through the doors, she was greeted warmly by a lot of the people there. Navigating through the crowd, she tried to look for Ayako and Michiko, her close friends. All of a sudden, she heard two people quarrelling with each other loudly. After hearing, she knew exactly who it was.

"Why are you here?" the girl screamed at the guy, who was brushing his hair rather flirtatiously as he smirked at her.

"I was invited to come here, stupid girl..." he smirked back victoriously, enraging the girl. Sticking his tongue out at her, she continued to scream.

"What did you say, you little runt?"

Following the noise, she found herself witnessing the commotion that was going on. Just as she thought, Ayako and Fuuto were fighting with each other again, while Michiko was trying her best to stop them. Ema noticed that they've been quarrelling ever since they met each other.

Smiling at the thought, she suddenly realized that she was about to walk towards one of the brothers that killed Fuyuki. Turning around, she tried to slip away into another part of the crowd, but unfortunately, she was seen by Ayako.

"Chiyoko-san!" Ayako screamed loudly, catching Fuuto's attention. As Fuuto looked at her, there seemed to be a sense of recognition in his eyes, something that made Ema's eyes widen. Even though she knew that the event where she would be found out was inevitable, the thought made her extremely nervous.

As Fuuto walked towards her, he seemed to have pinpointed what felt so familiar about her. As he was getting closer to her, she tried to take a step back, but the crowd blocked her from moving. When he finally stopped, he was so close that they could feel each other's breaths. When Ema was about to say something, he interrupted her.

"You're that girl that looks like Nee-san..." Fuuto scoffed, disappointed that she wasn't "really his older sister". As he turned away to continue his argument with Ayako, Ema wasn't able to sigh in relief. After all, on that very night, her identity was going to be revealed to all of Japan. The thought of that happening made her nauseous, but there wasn't anything that she could do about it.

Then, as the crowd was led to the projector, someone suddenly grabbed her hand. Before she was able to scream, the man interrupted her.

"Relax! It's only me..." the man revealed himself to be Hikaru. "So are you ready for this?" he smiled at her. In response, she smiled back anxiously, showing that she was nervous about this.

"I still can't forget about that trick you played on me! Now they're going to know about who I really am!" she complained, still angry at Hikaru for making her do that.

Hikaru patted her shoulder, saying, "Hopefully, they'll see the truth..." Then, as the crowd was looking at the two, Ema turned away while Hikaru introduced her before the lights dimmed.

As the final commercials were playing, Ema felt the butterflies fly in her stomach. She knew that right there and then, her secret would be revealed to all of Japan, although only the ones she knew would be greatly affected by said secret. Then, as the commercial ended, Ema braced herself for what was to come.

* * *

At the same time, Wataru was sitting right in front of the television along with Tsubaki, since they were diehard fans of AsahinaSisters. After all, the lead actress was none other than Chiyoko Asahina, also known as Chi. Meanwhile, the brothers, except for Fuuto and Hikaru, who were at the premiere event, were sitting on the couch. Aiko had come over to spend some time with her fiancé, Masaomi, much to Wataru's dismay.

As the last commercial finished playing, Wataru and Tsubaki were excited for the first episode, looking like a bunch of little kids waiting to open their birthday presents. Then, after the screen faded to black, the first scene was displayed on the television.

In the first scene, a girl with long brown hair tied into a side ponytail was standing on a mansion balcony, her back being shown to the brothers. There was a red string connected to her finger, referring to the "Red String of Fate" story. As the wind blew, a man's voice started to speak over the light and melodic music in the background.

"There's this thing called the Red String of Fate, which connects two lovers destined to be with each other, no matter what happens." the man said in a melancholic voice. "Throughout our lives, we may love someone so much it hurts... I am Yutaka Nakazawa and I am one of those people..."

After a short pause, the man continued. "Loving someone can be one of the best feelings but it can be one of the worst. You may just have the feeling that the one you love may love someone else... I loved her ever since the day I met her; it was love at first sight. However, there are others that love her as well, such as my brothers and this other person..."

There was yet another pause before he started speaking again. "I only kept the fact that I loved her to myself, not telling a single soul. However, fate, it seems, had other plans... All I hope is that her red string and mine are the same..."

As the title began to show up on the screen, the man whispered lovingly, "This, ladies and gentlemen, is my story and the story of "My Sister, My Love". All of a sudden, the girl on the camera turned around, letting her brown hair sway gracefully as her brown eyes gleamed.

Looking at the screen, the brothers were extremely shocked, recognizing the girl almost instantly. As the girl's familiar appearance rang into their heads, it was clear that they were so blinded by their love for Ema that they didn't notice her at all. Now, there she was, being shown on national television. After an awkward moment where nobody talked, someone finally said something.

"Onee-san?" A seventeen year old Wataru gaped in awe as he walked towards the television. As a commotion started to build up in the living room, some of the brothers were optimistic that they had found their missing sister, once and for all.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**So, it's the sixth chapter of "I Need Your Smile" which means that by the time this chapter is posted, the poll on my profile will be closed. I thank all of you for placing your votes, and one of the top five from the previous poll will end up with Ema in the end. **

**Anyway, now that the brothers are beginning to find out about who Ema really is, I would like to tell you that the entire series isn't ending soon. In fact, we're just nearing the halfway point! With that in mind, I would like to thank you for sticking with me and I sincerely hope you enjoy future chapters! Please remember to review, favourite and/or follow, as all of them would motivate me to update more often! Bye bye!**


	7. Seventh Chapter: Secret

**Author's Note:**

**Hello, readers! Welcome to the second half of the "I Need Your..." series! Firstly, I would like to thank you all for making it this far! As I have said countless times before, if it wasn't for all of you, I wouldn't have made it very far! Also, since it's Halloween night (as of the time I update this story), and I'm unable to give candy to all of you, I would like to give you the chance to read the seventh chapter of "I Need Your Smile" instead. So, I hope you enjoy the story!**

* * *

**I Need Your Smile**

**Seventh Chapter: Secret**

While everyone was still shocked at what they saw on the TV, they still braced themselves for the rest of the episode. The more they watched, the more they knew that Chiyoko had to be Ema. Even though they knew that Hikaru's novel was based on them and their beloved sister, they didn't think that they would've had deja-vu while watching it.

What exactly was in the first episode anyways? In short, it started with the _Nakazawa _brothers receiving news of their mother's remarriage and that their new sister, _Haruka Sato__u_, will live with them. After she arrived, _Yutaka_, learned that his sister is the one he already had feelings for. At the end of the episode, while walking home from school, she ran into _Makoto Kobayashi_. In other words, it was pretty much what really happened with the characters' names changed.

As the end credits finished showing, the television was turned off instantly at the click of a remote button. Turning to the one who turned it off, Natsume, who normally had a cool demeanour, threw the remote towards the ground, letting the batteries fly out.

"Why?" he grunted, letting his angry tears flow down his face. "Why only now do we know this?" He was angry at himself for being too blind to notice that Ema was hiding in plain sight. A few times, before this happened, he had been to a few AsahinaSisters concerts with Wataru, but it never even fazed him that Chiyoko was his long-lost sister, not until he saw the episode.

Then, all of a sudden, the room erupted into chaos. As the brothers were still trying to get used to the fact that their sister was still alive, Aiko tightened her grip around her fiancé's hand, since she was the one who helped Ema the most when it came to hiding her from her brothers. Masaomi noticed the concerned look on her face and asked if there was anything wrong.

"Hold on a minute," Ukyo interrupted, clearing his throat before continuing. "Aren't you jumping to conclusions? We're not even sure if she really is Imouto-chan!" This caused a bit of outrage among the brothers.

"She absolutely has to be Hinata-kun! There's no doubt about it!" Yusuke screamed at his older brother, wanting to reunite with the one he had feelings for as soon as possible. Even though it had been over seven years, his love for her only grew stronger, so naturally, he would believe that Chiyoko was, without a doubt, Ema Hinata.

"But isn't it that there's always a chance that she isn't who we hope she is?" Ukyo pointed out, again grabbing their attention. "What if she really isn't Imouto-chan? Like in law, we have to consider them innocent before they are proven guilty!"

"This isn't a trial, Ukyo-nii! This is our sister, for crying out loud!" Subaru snapped, unable to forget that there's a possibility that Ema's alive and well. Clenching his fists, tears were forming in his eyes as he thought of Ema, one of the first girls he had feelings for.

All of a sudden, he turned around and ran out the door, screaming, "I'm going to the police station!" Then, most of the brothers, except for the older ones, followed him, wanting to report the possible reappearance of their sister.

Then, Aiko, too, was starting to feel uncomfortable. She knew that Ema didn't want them to find out because she didn't want to hurt them further, so seeing the brothers' reactions first hand had made her feel extremely bad for them. She didn't think that it would have a profound effect on her. While Masaomi was holding her more tightly, Wataru noticed this and stopped walking for a second.

"Hold on!" Wataru pointed out, causing Aiko's heart to beat faster. "Something tells me that she has something to do with it! After all, you're the older sister of Onee-san's boyfriend!" This earned him a warning from both Masaomi and Ukyo, who didn't want him to make Aiko feel uncomfortable, since they knew very well that Wataru had a strong dislike for the one who took Masaomi away from him.

Fortunately for Aiko, Tsubaki, who was the last one to leave for the police station, grabbed Wataru's hand and bolted out the door, closing it shut. As Aiko sighed in relief, Kaname cleared his throat, wanting to ask Aiko something.

"Are you okay?" Kaname asked, becoming rather concerned for his future sister-in-law when he saw her face. "You can cry on my shoulder if you like," he continued rather flirtatiously, earning a glare from both of his older brothers. When Aiko only looked down, Masaomi wanted to ask something that had been on his mind.

"Aiko," Masaomi spoke, remembering what had happened when he saw Chiyoko while he visited Aiko that day. "Is Chiyoko, the one who lives with you, really our little sister?" After seeing that episode, he had a lot of thoughts in his mind. He remembered all the times he had suspected Chiyoko of being Ema, only to be thrown off by the fact that Ema was considered "dead in absentia".

Aiko was feeling uneasy at the moment. She didn't want to reveal Ema's secret, but she couldn't take it anymore. While her heart was thumping loudly, Masaomi became worried for Aiko, so he sent Kaname to get a glass of water for Aiko. However, Aiko stopped Kaname, since she had something she wanted to say.

"I need to tell you something," she was ready to admit the truth. She knew that it would hurt Ema, but she felt as if she had no choice, since the brothers wanted to be with her so badly. Even Masaomi was asking her about Ema. "Chiyoko Asahina is your sister, Ema Hinata..." she finally admitted to them, shocking all of the brothers.

Both Kaname and Ukyo looked at her with their eyes wide open. After all, they were, at one point, in love with their little sister. After she had disappeared from their lives, they had eventually moved on. After hearing this, they were shocked at the fact that Ema wasn't dead, but was just hiding from them. However, they knew that they couldn't blame her, seeing that on the day she left, she had a big argument with Tsubaki and Fuuto.

Meanwhile, Masaomi couldn't believe what he was hearing. Being the oldest, he felt extremely guilty when he heard the news that Ema had "committed suicide". He had promised himself that he would be a bit of a father figure towards Ema, even though he fell in love with her at one point.

Turning to Aiko, he looked at her, still unable to believe that his own fiancée had kept this from him. After taking a deep breath, he began to speak.

"Why have you kept this from us?" Masaomi softly asked Aiko, who had tears forming in her eyes. As she looked down, she tried to find the words to say.

"I-I had promised Ema that I wouldn't reveal her secret..." She told Masaomi, who still stared at her, wanting to know what had happened with Ema during those seven years. Then, Aiko continued to speak, remembering what had happened on that Christmas day. "That day, she really did try to commit suicide, but I found her unconscious body. When I took her to my house, she told me that she couldn't take it anymore, so I offered to help her start a new life. Then, we moved to America, where I had my training to become a pediatrician, while she was training to become an idol." Aiko took another deep breath, trying to hold back her tears. "She had told me countless times that she loved her new life and that she didn't want to go back to the way things were. That's why I kept it a secret, but..." Aiko paused for a second.

"What happened?" Kaname asked for her to continue, while Masaomi just looked down at his lap, trying to process what Aiko had said. As Aiko took a quick glance at her fiancé, she continued talking.

"I didn't want Masaomi to stop loving me!" she cried, instantly grabbing the oldest brother's attention. "I knew that he was in love with Ema, so I didn't want him to find out! I was scared that he would leave me so that he could pursue her... but when he asked me if Chiyoko was really Ema, I felt that I had to tell him, even though I knew that there was a possibility that he would break up with me! Masaomi, Ukyo-san, Kaname-san, I'm sorry for keeping it from you until now!"

She then went into fetal position and sobbed. While they looked at her with concerned faces, Kaname went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. Then, Masaomi stood up and kneeled in front of Aiko, who was crying on the couch. Holding her face so that they would face each other, Aiko noticed the serious look on his face.

"Aiko, listen to me..." he told her, wanting to make sure that she would understand what he was going to say. "I admit, I was in love with Imouto-chan, but then I fell in love with you. Sure, it was an arranged marriage at first, but I then grew to love you! My feelings for Ema are long gone! You're the only one I love, Aiko, so don't think that I would ever leave you!"

While Aiko looked at him in shock, she suddenly went in his arms and cried on his shoulders, while Masaomi started patting her back in an attempt to comfort the one he loved.

Seeing that this was a perfectly good moment between two lovers, Ukyo left the living room.. Passing by Kaname, he stopped him from going forward, since he didn't want to ruin the moment. As they looked back at the pair, they smiled to themselves, glad not only because of what happened between Masaomi and Aiko, but because they knew that their beloved sister was alive and doing well.

* * *

Meanwhile, as the first episode came to a close, the crowd stood up from their seats and clapped while Hikaru and Ema bowed before walking off the stage. While she was walking towards her friends, she had received a lot of praise for her convincing performance. This was expected, seeing that she had experienced it in real life. Walking through the crowd, delicate tears fell down her face.

Every step she took, the more her heart thumped. She knew that her secret was out and that she would have to live with it. However, she knew that there was no turning back. As she stared at Hikaru, the one who forced her to reveal her secret to those who knew her, he only smiled at her, satisfied that his brothers would know the truth. As her friends came into view, he gave her a quick hug before walking off to greet some more people.

Then, her friends suddenly went over to her and hugged her. Of course, that knew that her secret would be revealed when the episode aired. However, while Ayako felt bad that Ema's identity was revealed to her brothers, in Michiko's opinion, she believed that Ema's brothers deserved to know. As she hugged them, they patted Ema's back, comforting her while she stressed out about her secret.

"Don't worry," Michiko reassured her maturely. "It's a good thing this happened, isn't it? Now they won't have to be in pain anymore..."

"But I already hurt them!" Ema responded. "I can't do this! I'm scared that I'll hurt them even more! I can't let it go back to the way it was!" While Ema tried to control her tears, Ayako tightened her grip on Ema's shoulder.

"Don't talk like that!" Ayako scolded Michiko rather childishly. "Don't forget about those _two _brothers that killed Ema's boyfriend, especially 'Fuuto Asakura the Idiot'! I still can't believe he's actually her brother!"

"How did you know..." Ema was a bit curious as to why Ayako knew such a thing.

"Even though I already knew that little idiot, Hikaru Asahina-san introduced him to us," Ayako complained openly, crossing her arms as she spoke. "I remember him saying something about Asakura-san being your step-brother or something like that..."

Then, all of a sudden, someone came up to Ema and hugged her from behind, much to Ema's surprise. As the man's breath tickled her ear, Ema flinched, having a clear idea on who it was.

"I can't believe you had the nerve to leave us like that... I'm ashamed of you..." Fuuto whispered flirtatiously, while Ema's heart started thumping even faster than before. "I also can't believe that you've grown to be even more beautiful than before, and yet you're hiding this treasure from me, am I right?" As he played with her hair seductively, Ema started to become uncomfortable..

"But when you thought that Chiyoko was a different person, you said that she wasn't as pretty as Ema used to be!" Ayako pointed out his contradiction. By this point, she wasn't annoyed at him anymore. Instead, she was rather confused. While she looked at the way Fuuto was flirting with Ema, her own heart started to beat rapidly.

"I guess that's what love does to people. My love for Nee-san had blinded me to the point where I couldn't even reassure myself that Chiyoko Asahina was really Nee-san in disguise..." he replied back as he gave Ema a peck on the cheek.

To Ayako's surprise, she felt a pang of jealousy, when she saw Fuuto act intimately towards Ema. She held her hands to her chest, feeling the beating of her heart. What her mind felt about Fuuto was completely different from what her heart felt about him.

While Fuuto held onto Ema's fragile, yet well-developed body, Ema couldn't stand his intimacy any longer. Yanking herself away from him, she ran at full speed away from Fuuto, tears cascading down her face. She knew that if she would have let this go on any longer, her life wouldn't be any different from how it was before Fuyuki came into her life. Blasting out the door, she quickly went into a taxi and went towards the Shiraishi household.

Meanwhile, Fuuto clenched his fist as he walked away from Ayako and Michiko. "Don't worry, nee-san... I'll make sure that we'll be together in the end..." Hearing what he said, Ayako, who had tears pooling in her eyes, only stared at his walking figure.

"I can't let this happen..." she whispered to herself, feeling conflicted about her feelings for Fuuto. As she looked down, Michiko looked at Ayako, wanting to know what was going on in her mind. She saw that Ayako started acting strangely when she noticed Fuuto flirting with Ema. Grabbing her attention, she began to speak.

"Ayako, are you, by any chance, in love with Asakura-san?" Michiko asked carefully. All of a sudden, Ayako started blushing profusely as she waved her hands in the air.

"What are you talking about?" Ayako panicked, trying to find some way to convince Michiko otherwise. "Why would I like that freak?"

"Isn't he the same freak that made you want to become an idol?" Michiko gave one of her rare smiles, while Ayako's eyes widened, before blushing even more. Clearly she was enjoying Ayako's reactions. "Admit it. You're in love with him..." While she smirked at her bandmate, Ayako only looked down sadly.

"I don't know..." Ayako muttered as tears were falling down her face, which caused Michiko to stop teasing Ayako. "I know that he is one of the most annoying people I've ever met, even if I admire him for making me realize my dream. However, I'm starting to get this feeling that I haven't felt with any other guy. I don't know what to feel about him. I'm just confused, that's all..."

Then, she said, "I'm going to leave now," before turning around to leave the event. As Michiko looked at Ayako, she wanted to know what she could do to make her best friend feel better. She knew that Ayako would be stressed out about this, so she wanted to be a good friend and help her. Then, as the crowd began to disperse, she decided to leave, following Ayako as they made their way towards their apartment.

* * *

The next morning, Ema woke up early. Looking out her bedroom window, she watched the sun rise. As she took out her phone, she opened the news app, letting her hand glide gracefully over the touch screen. Reading the first article that came on the screen, she began to look downcast.

"New Lead in Ema Hinata Missing Person Case," was the headline. Reading through the article, she was pleasantly surprised that it didn't mention the fact that she and Chiyoko Asahina were the same person.

"_Maybe they didn't tell them about us being one and the same..." _Ema thought as she stood up. Walking downstairs, she noticed Aiko, who was re-watching the first episode of "My Sister, My Love".

"Good morning, Aiko-nee!" Ema greeted politely as she made her way to the kitchen to make breakfast.

"Good morning..." Aiko replied back. Ema noticed that there was something strange about her tone of voice, almost as if she was guilt-ridden. That was true, since Aiko felt extremely bad about revealing Ema's whereabouts to her brothers.

Then, as Ema took out the frying pan, the doorbell rang. Both Aiko and Ema were surprised, since they weren't expecting guests. Before Ema was able to go to the door, Aiko stopped her so that she could open the door herself.

Opening the door, she was surprised when she saw Masaomi standing at the door. When she was about to ask what he was doing there, she noticed the uncomfortable look he had on his face.

"What's wrong?" she asked Masaomi, who only took her hand and walked towards the corner. At that moment, Aiko knew what was going on.

Standing around the corner was a crowd of people, Ema's step-brothers to be exact. Most of them had angry stares, directed towards Aiko. At the same time, Masaomi gripped her hand even tighter. Meanwhile, Ema was curious about what was taking Aiko so long, so she walked towards the front door, the place where her brothers, the ones she wanted to stay away from, stood.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Hello, everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Anyway, I would like to tell you that planning for the third and final volume is almost complete! Since I have received the results from the second poll, I have planned out the ending. However, unlike the last poll, I would not give you the results of the poll until it is revealed within the story itself, since it would spoil the story. So, thanks for reading and remember to review, follow and/or favourite! Bye bye!**


	8. Eighth Chapter: Guilt

**I Need Your Smile**

**Eighth Chapter: Guilt**

Taking slow steps towards the door, she wanted to see why Aiko took so long. Also, the fact that they weren't expecting any guests further piqued her interest. As she was turning around the corner, she suddenly stopped in her tracks when she saw a glimpse of her brothers, standing right at the door.

Meanwhile, Masaomi was gripping Aiko's hand tightly. While beads of sweat started to drip down the back of her head, the beating of her heart suddenly intensified. At the same time, most of the brothers, except for the older four and Azusa, were glaring angrily at Aiko, creating a tense environment. After all, according to them, Aiko was "hiding their dear sister from them".

"Sorry, Aiko..." Masaomi mouthed apologetically, trying not to grab his brothers' attention. Before Aiko was able to ask what had happened, he put his mouth to her ear and whispered, "Ukyo, Kaname and I didn't want to tell them, out of respect for Imouto-chan's feelings, but, for some weird reason, Hikaru found out and told them all."

Then, all of a sudden, Wataru ran towards Aiko and pushed her towards the ground. Since the door was open, Ema could see the situation unfold. Seeing that there would be a chance that Wataru would see her, Ema spun on her heel and ran away, looking for a hiding place. At the same time, while Masaomi was turning around to check if his fiancée was hurt by Hikaru, he caught a glimpse of a familiar person's running figure. Though he was a bit curious, he turned a blind eye and attended to his wife.

"You witch!" Wataru screamed at Aiko, who was being lifted up by Masaomi. "First you steal Masa-nii away from me, but you stole Onee-san as well? What kind of person are you?" At the same time, Yusuke, though being a bit more mature, ran towards Aiko at full speed, only to be stopped by Masaomi, who pushed him away.

"Masa-nii! Why are you on her side?" Yusuke yelled at his older brother. "She's the one who's hiding Hinata-kun away from us! Are you going to betray this family?"

"What are you saying?" Masaomi argued back, holding his wife in his arms. "Are you calling me a traitor for siding with the one I love? She was the one who saved the one you love in the first place, so why are you still blaming her?" At that moment, Yusuke was taken aback, even though he still hated Aiko with a passion.

From upstairs, while she was looking for a hiding place, Ema could hear them argue from upstairs. As tears were starting to fall from her eyes, she wondered if leaving them caused them to act like that. Even though she didn't want them to act that way anymore, she believed that if she went back, she would cause nothing but more pain towards the brothers. To her, it was too late.

Then, all of a sudden, she heard Subaru yell, "Let's go in! She should be in there!". As the other brothers nodded in agreement, she heard the group run straight into the house as if they were a herd of cows. As they began to search throughout the house, Ema passed by Fuyuki's room and ran straight into the room without thinking.

Running into his room, she could see all his things. On the floor was the suit he wore on that Christmas date, the last outfit he wore before his demise. Then, as she walked towards his desk, she saw a picture of him and her, taken during their date at the amusement park.

It was a picture of them on a rollercoaster. That day, while they were riding down a steep slope, Fuyuki wrapped his arm around her and smiled as if he knew the camera was there, while Ema was closing her eyes, terrified of the ride.

Placing the frame back onto the desk, Ema felt a tear glide down her smooth face, leaving a small, wet trail on her cheek. Before she was able to wipe it away, she heard running footsteps nearby. Terrified for what was to come, she followed her first instinct, which was to run towards his closet and hide in there for the time being.

As Fuyuki's clothes hung from the railing, Ema felt a sense of nostalgia, remembering everything she had been through with Fuyuki, Tears were starting to form in her eyes due to this feeling, but then, at that exact moment, the door slammed open and one of her brothers went straight into the room. Panicking, she buried her face in Fuyuki's school uniform, trying to muffle her cries.

She could hear him rummaging through Fuyuki's stuff, throwing some of his belongings onto the floor. Even though she had no view of what was going on in his room, she could tell that he was desperate by the way he was looking for her.

Unsatisfied, he went straight towards the door. However, just when he was about to give up, he felt a prescence in the room. Turning around, he looked around the room yet again. Looking at the closet, he walked closer and closer to it, stopping just at the closet door. At that moment, Ema's heart began to pound.

All of a sudden, he screamed, "Hinata-kun, damn it! Please just come back to us!" in a loud and husky voice. Ema's eyes widened upon identifiying which of the brothers was in Fuyuki's room, just on the other side of the closet door. That brother was Yusuke, the one who was in love with Ema ever since their high school years.

"Why did you have to leave like that? Why?" Yusuke cried, showing his true feelings without trying to hide them. As tears fell from his eyes, Ema could tell from his tone of voice that he was deeply saddened by this. As a result, Ema began to cry even more, burying her face in Fuyuki's uniform even harder to prevent any cries from escaping.

"Didn't you know that what you did caused unbearable pain to all of us?" Yusuke screamed, clenching his fists. "Haven't you thought about that when you left us! I almost committed suicide because of that, you know?" At that moment, Ema remembered when Hikaru told her that some of her brothers attempted suicide because of her. This caused her to sob tearfully, though her cries were muffled by Fuyuki's school uniform, as well as Yusuke's own cries.

"Please... Just come back," Yusuke calmed down a bit, though he only looked at the ground dejectedly. "I know that we've done some horrible things in the past, but we genuinely care for you deeply!" Yusuke knew that he was "talking to air", but he still took a deep breath for what he was about to say next. "Also, please come back, because... because... I love you!" As Ema's eyes widened, more tears were trying to escape from her eyes.

Then, all of a sudden, Yusuke turned around to leave, knowing that "talking to thin air" was pointless. Before he stormed out of the room though, he noticed the picture placed neatly on Fuyuki's desk. Taking it in his hand, he scoffed at it and threw it on the ground, letting the glass shatter into a million pieces. At the same time, Ema's heart shattered into a million pieces as well.

"This is all your fault, Fuyuki! If it wasn't for you, none of this would've happened!" he screamed loudly before bursting out the door.

After making sure that it was safe for her to leave the closet, Ema carefully navigated through the broken glass on the floor before reaching the picture that was on the floor, still intact. Picking it up and placing it close to her heart, she let her tears fall on the broken glass as she cried to herself.

"Yusuke-kun, you're wrong..." Ema spoke, knowing that nobody would hear her anyways. Wiping her tears with her hand while holding the photo with the other, she continued softly. "It was all my fault... I'm the one responsible for this, but it's too late for me to fix it... I'm sorry, everyone..." Then, she sat on the ground, watching out for stray shards of broken glass, and cried to herself, hoping that nobody would find her.

After a few minutes, the brothers gave up. They were unsuccessful in finding Ema at the house, even though Yusuke was really close. As they left the house disappointed and disheartened, only Masaomi, Ukyo and Kaname stayed behind. While Masaomi was holding his wife's hand, Ukyo and Kaname apologized for their brothers' actions.

"I guess that the young maiden wasn't here today... It wouldv'e been nice to see her pretty face again..." Kaname sighed as Aiko passed him a cup of tea. Sipping it slowly, he placed the cup on the table and smiled faintly. "I bet that after all this time, she had become even hotter than ever before. Too bad she probably wouldn't show her face whenever we come over..."

Still holding his wife's hand, Masaomi turned to Ukyo, remembering what had happened earlier, when he caught a glimpse of Ema's running figure as she went to find a hiding place.

"That's because Ema's hiding from us..." Masaomi explained, shocking his two younger brothers. At this point, Aiko knew that keeping Ema's secret was pointless, seeing as her brothers know of her existence. Meanwhile, Ukyo and Kaname looked at their older brother, eyes wide open.

All of a sudden, Aiko called Ema to come over. As Ema walked down the stairs, as soon as she saw her three older brothers, she quickly turned around and went back. She was really shocked, since she really wanted to know why they were there in the first place. Then, Aiko let go of Masaomi's hand so that she could get Ema. Grabbing her hand, Ema tried to pull away from Aiko's grasp.

"W-What are you..."

"What's the point of hiding from them when they already know your secret?" Aiko whispered, trying to get Ema to come down. "Besides, from what I think, they could be trusted..." Ema thought about what Aiko said about Masaomi, Ukyo and Kaname and realized that she was right about Masaomi and Ukyo, though she still had her doubts about Kaname. However, Aiko quickly dragged her towards the kitchen table.

When she arrived, Ema's heart began to beat even faster. She was nervous about what they were going to say to her. Were they going to scold her? Would they try to get her to come back? She wouldn't know, and that was something that made her worry. Then, out of nowhere, Kaname stood up and hugged her playfully, shocking her.

"It's been so long, Imouto-chan..." Kaname told her flirtatiously, though Ema, unlike previous times, didn't blush whatsoever. "I have to say that you've become more sexy..." As he winked at her, Ukyo whacked Kaname on the head.

"Don't you have an ounce of decency?" Ukyo scolded, while Kaname let go of his little sister. As they all went towards the kitchen table, Ema offered to refill everyone's cups with tea. Sitting down, she wasn't really surprised to see that her brothers were quick to ask questions.

"So, how have you been doing?" Ukyo continued, only to find that Ema wasn't answering. He could understand, seeing as this was her first real conversation with her brothers as a family. He tried again to no avail.

Then, Kaname suddenly asked her, "Why don't you want everyone else to find you?" As Ema felt tears pooling in her eyes, she still kept quiet. At this point, Kaname started to get even more curious. Putting a serious face on, he asked again, more sternly, "Why don't you want everyone else to find you? Why are you hiding?" All of a sudden, tension started to fill the air as Kaname was pressing her for answers. At the same time, Masaomi and Ukyo were starting to feel concern for their step-sister.

Taking a deep breath, Ema caught everyone's attention. "I-It's just that I don't want to go back..." Seeing that the brothers suddenly had pained faces, Ema knew that she had to continue, otherwise, she would just hurt them, something that she really wanted to avoid. "If I come back, things would just return to the way things were before Fuyuki was around. Also, if that happens, I will just hurt everyone again... I am aware that some of them are still in love with me, so even if I tell them my true feelings, I would just cause them pain again... Staying here's the only thing I can think of..."

As Ema was starting to cry, silence filled the room. During that moment, nobody, not even Kaname, said anything. Then, suddenly, Masaomi broke the silence.

"I understand..." he said, shocking Ema, who expected something completely different. "This isn't something we can force you do. It isn't our place to do so, right?"

While the brothers nodded in agreement, Ukyo continued what Masaomi was going to say. "I understand why you don't want to come back, so we can't make you come back against your will. All we care about is your happiness. If we make you come back, how could you be happy?" Then, after he sighed, the brothers stood up and went towards the door one by one, believing that they overstayed.

Then, Kaname, walking past Ema, who only looked at her lap, suddenly hugged her from behind, grabbing her full attention. "Even so, if you still decide to come back, you can tell us, but as they said, it's your decision. Just know that we always care for you, my princess..." All of a sudden, Ukyo grabbed Kaname from behind and dragged him towards the door, scolding him yet again for his indecency.

To her surprise, while the brothers were exiting the door, Ema had a slight smile on her face, the first one caused by her brothers in seven and a half years. Aiko, noticing this, smiled at Ema, glad that Ema's one step closer to reconciliation. Standing up, Ema quietly went to her room, happy that she was able to talk to some of her brothers again.

* * *

Eight years had passed since Ema and Fuyuki went on their Christmas Date. While the cold breeze blew over the graveyard, Ema, wearing her winter parka, walked towards Fuyuki's gravestone. Kissing the top of the gravestone, she sat in front of it and cried silently.

All of the memories flooded back to her; not just the ones about her relationship with Fuyuki, but all the memories of her brothers and when they stormed into the Shiraishi household a while ago. She could remember Hikaru scolding her, Yusuke begging her to come back, Juli's confrontation at the concert and even that talk with Masaomi, Ukyo and Kaname. Tears were starting to fall down from her eyes, as all of those flashbacks played into her mind.

"What should I do?" Ema cried on his gravestone, curling up into a little ball. As she sobbed loudly, she felt a sudden gust of wind blow in a certain direction.

As the snow blew, some of the flowers she held in her hand blew away. Flying with the wind, Ema quickly stood up and ran for the flowers so that she could put them on Fuyuki's own grave. As she was running, someone noticed her and recognized a familiar presence, so he literally followed her footsteps to see where she was going.

Chasing the flowers, she felt her heart beating from running so far. Suddenly, the wind slowed down while the flowers began to fall down on someone's gravestone. Bending down to pick them up, she read the name, instantly recognizing the people it belonged to.

It read, "In loving memory of Kenji and Yukie Nagami," Ema's birth parents. After realizing that it belonged to her very own parents, she spent a bit of time mourning. Afterwards, she stood back up, but something caught her eye.

Beside the gravestones was another one. Out of curiosity, she slowly walked towards it. Crouching downwards, she pushed away the bouquets of white flowers to reveal the name of the person, which was carefully etched onto the stone. To her surprise, it read, "In memory of Ema Hinata".

While her eyes were widening, she began to cry again. Seeing the gravestone reminded her of all her pain, as well as the pained voices of all her brothers when they were looking for her at Aiko's house. She couldn't bear to see them again, even though it would still hurt them. To her, it seemed that whether she returned or not, she would cause nothing but pain, and that was something she hated about herself.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered before standing up and turning away. However, before she was able to return to Fuyuki's gravestone, to her surprise, someone was standing in front of her, teary eyed.

It was a man, though it wasn't one of her brothers. He seemed to be in his late forties to early fifties, having black hair that went to his neck, brown eyes and a couple of wrinkles on his face. He had a startled look on his face as he felt tears pooling in his eyes. While he placed his hand on her shoulder, Ema suddenly recognized who it was and became nervous, as if her heart would beat out of her chest.

"Ema... Is that you?" he stuttered, looking at her teary-eyed. Meanwhile, Ema was shaking due to her apprehension. After all, the person standing in front of her was, in fact, her adoptive father, Rintarou Hinata.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Hello, everyone? Are you enjoying this so far? I hope so. Anyway, I want to say that I will try to post the chapters once a week, though there's no set day of the week. Also, I want to tell you all that the last chapter of "I Need Your Smile" will be posted in early December and on Christmas Day, I will have a present for all of the readers.**

**So, I hope you will continue to support this story and I hope you will look forward to future chapters, as well as the third and final volume! Bye bye!**


	9. Ninth Chapter: Fear

**I Need Your Smile**

**Ninth Chapter: Fear**

Ema was staring at her father nervously, as his hand was still firmly gripping her shoulder. He had encountered her by chance while visiting the graves of Ema's birth parents, as well as Ema's. When he saw her, he, being her adoptive father, instantly believed that it had to be her. Meanwhile, Ema's heart started beating faster and faster when each second passed.

When Ema had disappeared, Rintarou was distraught. After all, he had lost his only daughter. He felt as if he had failed her birth parents by letting her die. It took him a long time before he was able to move on from her supposed death, though she was always in her heart. However, after seeing her at that graveyard, all of his past feelings had flooded back to him.

Since she couldn't bring herself to answer Rintarou, he hastily asked again, "Is that you, Ema?" He then, started to feel her face with his shaking hands, trying to make sure that it was in fact, his daughter. After confirming that, he only muttered, "It's you... it must be you... Why did you 'commit suicide' like that, only to come back?"

"I'm not..." she muttered, trying to get away from him, but his grip was too strong for her. "I'm not that dead girl!" She tried to wriggle out of his grip, but he was persistent.

"No!" he refused to believe her. "I may not be your real father, but I know that you have to be her! Even if you're wearing different clothes... Even if you have a different hairstyle... I can still tell that you are, without a doubt, my daughter!" He then took her in his arms, shocking the poor girl. "I've heard from your brothers about you being an idol! They've shown me a recording of that episode and I know for a fact that 'Chiyoko Asahina' is my daughter! Are you still going to deny it?"

Trying to find a way to get through his accusations, she could only think of one thing, even though it was something that she would never do to her father. Then, in one swift motion, she pushed him away with all her might, shocking him.

"What do you mean? I don't have any brothers!" she tried to use the best of her acting skills, hoping that it would fool him. "Are you seriously going to believe those silly rumours that they're making up? What physical proof do you have? I bet you have none, so get away from me!" As she said that, she tried to hold back her tears, since doing that was too much for her to handle.

Turning on her heel, she tried to run away, but Rintarou, being the determined father he is, quickly grabbed her leg, hoping that she would admit the truth.

"Don't talk to me like that!" Rintarou scolded, while Ema tried to put on an annoyed look, hoping that it would convince her father otherwise. "How could you deny who you really are? Haven't you caused us enough pain already? Please admit it! You are Ema Hinata!"

"I said, 'Get away!'" she yanked her leg from his grasp and ran away, navigating through all the gravestones. While the snow was slowing her down, she was still determined to get away. Looking back, she was surprised to see that Rintarou was chasing her, running at full speed.

Turning around, she sped up, before walking down the wooden steps that led to the graveyard's exit. When she passed the gate, she turned around again to see that he was gone. Not wasting anytime, she went to search for her car, which was somewhere in the already crowded parking lot.

"_I don't have time for this!" _Ema thought as she tried desperately to look for her car, hoping that her father wouldn't catch up to her.

Moments earlier, while Rintarou chased Ema through the graveyard, he was stopped by his wife, Miwa, who was the mother of all of the Asahina brothers. As she tried to talk to her husband, Rintarou seemed rather impatient.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Miwa asked, curious as to why her husband was acting so funny. At the same time, Masaomi, who accompanied his mother to the graveyard, had a feeling that Ema was also at the graveyard, judging from Rintarou's face.

"I saw her!" Rintarou cried, grabbing his wife's hand so that they could chase her, but Miwa held him back, wanting to know more.

"What do you mean?" Miwa asked her husband, who only tried to drag her along.

"I saw Ema at the graveyard a minute ago!" He continued, causing his wife's eyes to widen, while Masaomi, who promised not to say anything, only sighed, knowing that this was inevitable.

"I-I thought she was dead..." Miwa said, shocked at her husband's words. She gave up trying to hold Rintarou back, letting him take her, while Masaomi stayed behind.

"I thought so too!" Rintarou screamed as the aging couple were running towards the family car, which was the same one Tsubaki and Fuuto used to run over Fuyuki, which was repaired after the accident. "She's been denying it, but I know for a fact that she's Ema Hinata!"

While they were going through the parking lot, Ema had finally found her car. Walking towards it, she looked into her purse to find the key. However, as she saw the car that was parked beside it, a memory appeared in her head, seeing as it was the same model as the car that ran over her first love.

It wasn't a pretty memory, though it was extremely vivid. She could remember that day as if it were yesterday. She visualized all of the blood and all of the screams, but most of all, she could remember Fuyuki as he tried to comfort Ema. That memory was short-lived though, since another surprise came her way.

"There she is!" Rintarou yelled out, while he and his wife ran towards her. In a panic, she finally found her key and opened the car, trying to run away from her parents. She didn't want to do this, but it was the only thing she could do, since she didn't want to back to her brothers. As she started the engine, Miwa was chasing the car, tapping on the windows. Ema simply mouthed the words, "I'm sorry... Miwa-sa... Mama..." before she sped away.

Meanwhile, Rintarou had gotten the car, while Miwa stepped in. Going at full speed, they pursued Ema, who, in her head, was begging for them to stop. Turning onto the road, they were driving swiftly, swerving their way through the traffic, as well as breaking numerous road laws in an attempt to confront their daughter.

"Faster!" Miwa screamed, determined to reunite with her stepdaughter. She, along with her husband, was deeply saddened by Ema's "death". Even though she was blessed with thirteen sons, she had always wanted a daughter, so when Ema came into her life, she thought of her as her daughter and wanted to take care of her. However, when she "died", she, along with Rintarou, felt as if she was a bad mother. While she turned to Rintarou, as well as her grieving sons, for comfort, she, along with Rintarou, had managed to move past it, but when they saw her alive, she wanted to reunite with her and make up for all of the time they had missed while she was gone.

As some of the cars were honking at them, they were speeding through the busy streets of Kichijouji, ignoring every single warning from the drivers so that they could be with their daughter again. However, as they were driving, Miwa looked at her side to see a huge truck come their way.

"Honey, watch out!" Miwa shrieked, bracing herself for the worst, while Rintarou only looked at her worriedly.

"What's wrong?" Rintarou asked her, concerned since Miwa was cowering in fear, knowing what was going to happen. Then, Rintarou finally saw the truck and tried to turn away, but it was too late.

That's when it hit them. As the car flew about twenty feet away, it started tossing and turning before the mangled mess came to a halt. Seeing the blood trickle down his wife's head, Rintarou tried to caress her short, blond hair as they looked at each other for the last time.

"I'm sorry..." Rintarou muttered to himself, to his wife, and to his daughter, whom he failed to reunite with. Then, while the ambulance was coming, they simultaneously took one last breath before closing their eyes, allowing themselves to drift closer to eternity.

Meanwhile, as Ema parked in front of the Shiraishi household, she had a weird feeling that something terrible had happened. Though she had some thoughts about it, she placed it in the back of her mind, as she greeted Aiko, who was impatiently waiting for her fiancée to arrive.

* * *

It was Christmas Day, which meant that it had been around eight years since Ema had left her brothers. While she was tying her long, dark brown hair into a bun, she placed a cap on her head while she took out a pair of sunglasses.

She was getting ready to return to the graveyard, in order to make up for what happened the day before. Holding a bouquet of white lilies in her hand, she looked at the mirror to check her disguise. Satisfied, she ran downstairs, only to hear Aiko talk to Masaomi.

Walking into the kitchen, she was about to greet Masaomi, but then, she suddenly noticed the sad face he had. She knew that it had nothing to do with her, since he knew her secret and was willing to keep it. Wondering what was going on, she cleared her throat.

"Masaomi-san, is there anything wrong?" she asked, trying to be as sympathetic as possible. He turned to her, but she was surprised when he pulled her into a hug. Knowing that this would cause Aiko to be jealous, she looked over to her, but she could only see a sympathetic face, as if she felt bad for her. Seeing their expressions, she really wanted to know what was going on.

"We're going to the graveyard, but it's not to visit Fuyuki..." Aiko commanded. While Ema tried to process her words, Aiko only gave her a stare, reminding Ema that this was something she needed to know. "Masaomi, let's go..." she said solemnly as she took Ema to the car.

Ema had no idea what was going on. Nobody would tell her anything. However, while Aiko was driving, she saw Masaomi, who was trying to hold back tears. Looking at his face, she wondered if she was going to feel the same way after she hears the news. Noticing her stare, Masaomi placed a hand on her shoulder, grabbing her attention.

"Imouto-chan," he said softly, trying not to be to harsh on her. "I have to warn you that when we get there, what you're going to hear may hurt you greatly..." He felt extremely bad for her, remembering everything that she had been through.

While Ema got the message, she looked outside the window to see the graveyard where she was at yesterday. However, they drove right past it and parked by an unfamiliar building, piquing Ema's interest. While Masaomi opened the door for Ema, Aiko stayed behind, knowing that what they would do had nothing to do with her.

"Imouto-chan, we're at the crematorium," Masaomi informed Ema, who already started to have a bad feeling about this. She knew that someone had to have died, since they were at a place where dead bodies were cremated. The only question that lingered in her mind is who.

Seeing Ukyo, who was standing outside the building, Masaomi and Ema walked towards the pair. Ema was surprised when she noticed that tears were falling down the lawyer's face, causing her to think that this was serious. All of a sudden, Ukyo placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I want you to listen calmly," Ukyo told her as Ema nodded her head slightly. After clearing his throat, Ukyo continued in a cool, yet pained voice. "When you left the graveyard, you were chased by our parents, right?" As Ema nodded, he continued, albeit more slowly, since he too was starting to cry again.

"While they were chasing you, they... they..." Unable to bear the pain of what had happened, he wiped the tears from his eyes, while his older brother, who was, too, crying, comforted him. He then cleared his throat, feeling that even though breaking the news would pain all of them, Ema had to know. "They died in a car accident..." As her eyes widened, Ema's world started to break apart again, experiencing that dreaded feeling all over again.

As she was about to cry, the brothers walked over to her, wanting to comfort their little sister, but all of a sudden, she ran away, not wanting to show her face to them. She remembered what had happened the day before. They were only wanting to reunite with her, yet she continued to evade them. As the fact that they died while pursuing her sank into her mind, she began to think that it was her fault that her parents died.

Going where her feet took her, she passed by some of her brothers, who were too going to the crematorium. As they stared at her, they were asking themselves if it was the girl they've been looking for. Seeing her running figure, Iori and Subaru, who were in that group, decided to follow her, since they haven't seen her in person for such a long time.

After a couple of minutes of running, she ended up in the graveyard. Because of the snow that was crunching beneath her feet, her legs became tired as she started to lose her breath. Finding a small pavilion within the graveyard, she ran into it and collapsed onto her knees as she cried out.

"Mama! Papa! Why did you have to die?" she sobbed, holding her hands in front of her chest as she knelt down on the cold stone. As the tears fell on the ground, creating little puddles of teardrops on the floor, she didn't bother to wipe them away, letting the tears move about.

She remembered what had happened at the graveyard. In a flashback, she could see Rintarou chasing her through the graveyard, while Miwa followed. She knew that the only thing they wanted to do was to reunite with her, yet because of her, all they got was death. Blaming herself, she pulled her hair in frustration as she gritted her teeth, teardrops still falling from her face.

While she was grieving the loss of her adoptive father and step-mother, Iori and Subaru, who decided to go after her, stopped by the pavilion, seeing that their beloved sister was a train wreck. Her hair was dishevelled, while her face was tear-streaked. Walking closer and closer, Iori placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I found you," he said gently, with a pained expression on his face. He wasn't one to yell at her for leaving, but he still wanted to confront her about it. Meanwhile, to her surprise, Subaru came and hugged her from behind.

Ema, who was shocked at her brothers' entrance had no idea that this was coming. This was a huge surprise to her, as her heart started to beat rapidly. If she knew that they were coming, she would've hidden, but since this was unforeseen, she had to deal with it. All of a sudden, Subaru took her and pinned her against the wall, shocking the grieving girl.

"Where have you been?" he screamed. Ever since the day Ema had left, he had been a train wreck. He was deeply saddened by her supposed death, to the point where he had lost interest in basketball, something he had loved, before moving on from her death. Of course, this was to be expected, since he was so in love with her. Then, after seeing his tear-streaked face for a few moments, the anger within him was replaced with concern.

"Ema-san, are you okay?" Iori asked her calmly, not raising his voice one bit as soon as he noticed the tears on Ema's face. Even though he too had missed her greatly, he wanted to grieve with Ema rather than to confront her about her disappearance. After all, he was in her shoes once.

Before Ema came into his life, he dated a girl named Fuyuka Shiraishi, Aiko and Fuyuki's sister. They were really happy together, but one day, fate decided to play tricks with him. One fateful day, Fuyuka was hit by a car and killed instantly. This was exactly like Ema's story. One day, she had met Fuyuka's younger brother, Fuyuki. Like Iori and Fuyuka, they dated, much to the dismay of some of her brothers. Then, on Christmas Eve, a couple of her brothers, who were under the influence of alcohol, ran him over, giving him injuries that would later kill him. Now, with her father and his mother out of the picture, she had another thing to cry about.

"Please, listen to us..." Subaru begged while Iori walked over to her, wanting to give her a warm embrace. However, seeing an opportunity, Ema pushed her way through the pair and ran away from the pavilion.

While Subaru was going to run after her, Iori stopped her, wanting to leave her be for the moment. Of course, he didn't want to cause a huge confrontation when they're supposed to mourn the loss of their parents. Grumbling, Subaru walked back to the crematorium with Iori, who looked at the direction Ema had ran towards.

Meanwhile, as she went to look for Aiko's car, she ran through a forest, tears flying from her eyes. She was well aware that some of the brothers had found her. At this point, she knew that more brothers would still try to confront her. As the thought lingered in her mind, another one flew into her head.

She knew of the pain her brothers had felt when they thought she was dead. Even after she was proven to be alive, they were still hurt, since she constantly tried to evade them. Because of this, she knew that she had caused so much misery to her brothers. Even though she originally wanted to run away from them because of what Tsubaki and Fuuto had done, after a while, the reason had changed. Now, she wanted to evade them because she was afraid of causing them further pain.

As she stopped walking, she began to think about her fear of causing pain towards her family. Now, this fear had claimed the lives of her own father and her step-mother. Wiping a single tear away, she asked herself, "Is it worth it for me to stay away from them?"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Hi, readers! So, it seems that Ema is going to reunite with her brothers soon... or will she? After all, anything could happen... Will she be able to go back to them or will something else happen? Regardless of what happens though, the story will still go on, since there's another volume left to write. Anyway, I hope that you will review, favourite and/or follow this story, if you haven't already, since they really motivate me! Bye bye!**


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